Inflammation — the key to chronic disease?

by Marcelle Pick, NP OB/GYN

It’s fascinating to watch the medical establishment discover inflammation. In the past two years there have been studies suggesting that chronic inflammation may be the root cause of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, and many other immune disorders. Most of the diseases and complaints associated with aging — including aging skin — can be partially explained by chronic inflammation.

Inflammation is a particular issue for women during and after menopause. Somehow — and we’re not yet sure how — this hormonal transition stokes the fire. Inflammation caused by hormonal imbalance could be a key reason why women suffer 75% of all autoimmune disease.

At Women to Women, we’ve long recognized that inflammation plays a central role in disease and aging, and that controlling inflammation is critical to your health. But what’s remarkable is that conventional medicine still has no tests for or diagnosis called chronic or systemic inflammation. There is even no consensus in medical science about what this kind of inflammation really is or how it undermines your health.

This simply means we’re in the middle of a medical revolution — a radical advance in the understanding of the body and how to keep it healthy.

But there’s plenty of good news here. Although chronic inflammation may be a relatively new idea to conventional medicine, it’s old hat in Chinese medicine. And while it’s true that Western science hasn’t worked out every step in the biology of chronic inflammation, we know a great deal about how to reduce inflammation and promote health.

So let’s explore what we now know about chronic inflammation, its link to disease, and what you can do in your own life to keep it under control. Here are a few articles we’ve written for you on the many facets of inflammation:

Our most popular resources on inflammation

To access an article, just choose from the list of excerpts below. To find more articles, use the search function below. Don’t see a topic that’s important to you? Let us know.

• Reducing inflammation — the natural approach.
  Reducing inflammation is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to improve your health and prevent many of the common complaints of aging — without drugs. These anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle guidelines are simple, natural, and highly effective.
• Joint pain or arthritis — quieting the inflammatory noise.
  Whether you have mild or severe inflammation causing your joint pain or arthritis, here are safe, simple and effective measures that can help you lower the flame on joint inflammation, refurbish joint cushioning, and regain flexibility — without resorting to harmful anti-inflammatory medications.
• Allergies and sensitivities — causes and solutions.
  One of the most common conditions related to inflammation is allergies. Yet chronic allergies and sensitivities (a subclinical allergic response) are largely ignored by conventional medical practitioners — and even by many patients who have learned to live with their symptoms without an explanation of where they came from. Fortunately, you don’t have to.
• What is chronic inflammation?
  It’s important to start with this page on the fundamentals of inflammation. It’s the basis for the pages that follow.
• Causes of inflammation.
  We all face inflammatory triggers from our diet, habits, and the environment. It’s no wonder inflammation is on the rise. But once you understand the causes of inflammation, you’ll understand how to reverse it.
• The biology of inflammation — pro-inflammatory hormones.
  For those interested in a deeper understanding of the biology of inflammation, we offer this brief set of definitions for pro-inflammatory hormones.
• Effects of inflammation — symptoms, conditions and related diseases.
  It’s surprising how many symptoms and conditions can arise directly from inflammation or have an inflammatory component to their progression. This list is a veritable alphabet soup of the potential results of chronic inflammation.
• Symptoms of allergy or sensitivity.
  If you recognize yourself here, you’ll know it’s time to make some changes. A comprehensive list of the symptoms of allergies and sensitivities, ranging from mild to severe.

Our Personal Program is a great place to start

The Personal Program promotes natural hormonal balance with nutritional supplements, our exclusive endocrine support formula, dietary and lifestyle guidance, and optional phone consultations with our Nurse–Educators. It is a convenient, at-home version of what we recommend to all our patients at the clinic.

• To learn more about the Program, go to How the Personal Program works.
• To select the Program that’s right for your symptoms, go to Choose the plan that works for you.
• To assess your symptoms, take our on-line Hormonal Health Profile.
• If you have questions, don’t hesitate to call us toll-free at 1-800-798-7902. We’re here to listen and help.

 

Original Publication Date: 04/12/2005
Last Modified: 06/15/2009
Principal Author: Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP