Staying healthy is about much more than three square meals and a good night’s sleep. Turns out, modern man has ‘evolved’ into some pretty bad habits. Life has changed exponentially from the days when we rose and retired with the sun and put in a long day of exertion in between. Now, fast foods, inactivity and chemical additives/by-products pose a threat to our health—and possibly our existence as a species.
Inflammation, a reaction to foreign substances, is the body’s natural way to fight illness. But when the inflammatory response is activated unnecessarily, it can signal a whole world of problems.
“In certain contexts, inflammation is essential to fighting infectious disease, but in other contexts, particularly in the modern world, it goes out of whack,” says Dr. Mark S. Dykewicz, allergist and immunologist at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. “It’s the body’s response to invaders. Typically, white blood cells are going into tissues, which causes swelling.”
As blood rushes to the site of an infection or injury, the inflammatory response brings redness, swelling, joint pain and possibly stiffness. The increased blood flow might make the site feel warm. “If you have a cut and see a little red area, that means your immune system is kicking in. As long as it doesn’t get out of control, that’s good,” says F. Afua Bromley, an acupuncturist at Acupuncture Saint Louis. “If there is an infection, inflammation means your body recognizes a foreign substance and is getting it out.”
[a historical necessity]
Some inflammatory responses might seem unnecessary today. The reason, Dykewicz says, is that our predecessors needed those responses to combat the very real threats they faced on a daily basis, due to lack of clean water, basic medicines, indoor plumbing or food refrigeration.
“In our modern living environment, we have fewer infections than our prehistoric ancestors did,” Dykewicz says. “In those days, you wanted a very robust inflammatory response to get rid of organisms. Now, we often seem to have a system gone awry.”
[it’s complicated]
Inflammation is involved in diseases ranging from acne, asthma and allergies to rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases. “When you look at coronary artery disease, there are a lot of data that indicate inflammation gone awry is driving that process, as well,” Dykewicz says.
The inflammatory response can be prompted by something as simple as a splinter or, for some people, common foods. “Processed sugars, in particular, can cause an inflammatory response in the body at the cellular level,” Bromley says.
And then there’s the common cold. When you have a cold, a stuffy nose is due to swelling of the nasal linings, Dykewicz explains. “Another part of the inflammatory response is the production of mucus that causes a runny nose and congestion.” Allergies and asthma are additional examples of inflammation gone awry. Dykewicz says with asthma you have two things going on: The airways are swollen, and bronchospasms constrict the muscles that encircle the airways.
[getting relief]
Acupuncture is one avenue for inflammation relief, Bromley says. The goal, she explains, “is to help the body operate at a better level of homeostasis. Often, we see inflammation of the joints and muscles; we do points distally or locally to decrease inflammation and increase blood and lymphatic circulation.” By increasing lymphatic circulation, acupuncture helps take waste cells away so there is increased blood flow and cellular regeneration occurs, she explains.
Acupuncture is based on the body’s channels of energy. “Anytime there is pain or a disease, it is caused by an imbalance along those channels,” Bromley says. “I can do a point on your hand to treat headache or neck pain because that channel is increasing. From a Western medicine standpoint, it is helping to balance the central nervous system.”
[autoimmune disease]
The immune system is on constant alert in our personal mystery novel, detecting invaders that might cause bodily harm. Usually its detective work is accurate in identifying the culprit and rooting him out of the household. But occasionally, the immune system gets terribly confused and starts attacking friend instead of foe.
“An autoimmune disease occurs when your immune system has decided that you—your own tissues and cells—are a germ, and it mounts an attack against itself,” explains Dr. Alfred Kim, co-director of the lupus clinic in the division of rheumatology at Washington University School of Medicine. That response can cause multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s syndrome and any of the other 80 autoimmune diseases identified by the National Institutes of Health. Autoimmune diseases affect 2 to 3 percent of our population, says Kim, and he notes the numbers tend to be increasing, possibly because we are doing a better job of diagnosing them.
[whodunnit?]
Kim likens the body’s reaction to what happens when we get a flu shot. “After you are vaccinated with the flu vaccine, your body develops flu antibodies that protect you against flu viruses,” he says. If you have an autoimmune disease, “for some reason your body is making antibodies against itself, and those auto-antibodies can generate inflammatory responses in your tissue.”
The immune system, even in the 21st century, remains mysterious. “The actual mechanism of how we make antibodies is still controversial and speculative,” Kim notes. “There are numerous ideas and hypotheses, none of which may explain it for a specific patient.”
The culprit might be familial. “There is some heritability,” he notes. “If one identical twin has the disease, the other twin will have the disease about 30 percent of the time. That tells us a couple of interesting things.”
[little-known culprit]
Sjogren’s syndrome, one autoimmune disease often diagnosed first by your ophthalmologist, can be related to other problems, says Dr. Jay Pepose, medical director of the Pepose Vision Institute. Identified in 1933 by a Swedish ophthalmologist, the syndrome’s most pronounced symptoms are dry eyes and mouth.
Few have heard of it, but Pepose says that needs to change. “We think there are 4 million people in the U.S. with Sjogren’s, but only about 1 million have been diagnosed,” he says. “It is a multi-system disorder that can be associated with other autoimmune diseases—rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia, for example. It can progress to severe organ damage and lymphoma. It has so many manifestations, the average patient has symptoms for almost five years before they are given the correct diagnosis.”
Sjogren’s syndrome attacks moisture-producing glands. Dry eyes feel painfully scratchy, and a dry mouth is prone to oral disease. Chewing and swallowing are difficult. “We postulate that there is a hormonal factor involved, because the ratio of patients is nine women to one man,” Pepose says. He says it usually first appears in middle-aged women, with tennis star Venus Williams being one of its most visible victims.
Artificial tears can protect dry eyes. Ongoing dental care will be needed, and a rheumatologist will care for other parts of the body that are affected. “The prognosis varies,” Pepose says, “but early diagnosis can make an important difference by monitoring the patient for lymphoma and complications that affect other organs.”
[the role of stress]
Too much stress can disrupt the biochemical responses that fight infections and maintain energy levels. “Most people don’t understand that the immune system is hardwired into your nervous system,” says Dr. Brenda L. Kingen of Kingen Chiropractic Wellness Center.
“Immunity is directly tied to stress levels,” adds Mark Lumpkin, a massage therapist at the Aquarius Wellness Center for the Healing Arts. “A lot of studies have shown that there is so much biochemical response when we are stressed. The body produces cortisol, which is directly related to what we call the ‘fight, flight or freeze syndrome.’”
This response fires off a flood of hormones that divert the body’s energy to survival mode—great if you’re being chased by a bear. Not so great if you aren’t. “When you are stressed by things going on at work or home, your body produces more cortisol,” Lumpkin says. “Your body does things like hold on to calories, which means you gain weight. You don’t necessarily sleep as well, and your thought patterns can be disturbed. Your immune function also can be less effective.”
[relax, or pay for it]
Stress gathers during long hours at the desk and computer, localizing in the neck and shoulders, says Kingen. “Changes in posture, which most of us have due to today’s technology, can affect your nervous system,” she says. Chiropractors call this altered positioning of the vertebra subluxation and treat it with spinal manipulation. “Then there is not as much interference in the nervous system, which allows your body to work better and withstand factors that can cause the immune system to break down,” Kingen says.
Massage therapy also addresses stress in the musculoskeletal system. “When people come in, we can feel tight spots, or knots, in the tissues,” Lumpkin says. “A lot of people carry them in the upper back, between the shoulder blades, and up through the neck into the back of the head. Another issue is the lower back, caused by sitting in a desk chair all day and not getting up to move around.”
Releasing this tightness through massage relaxes the entire body, Lumpkin adds. “It will help drop those stress and cortisol levels.”
[boosting immunity]
While scientists are still trying to understand the complexities of the immune system, research suggests that there definitely are factors that can boost immunity—and others that can erode it.
[change starts with you]
Physical activity drains stress and promotes health, Kingen says. “I always tell people to exercise. It is another thing that boosts your immune system.” She notes another simple, yet crucial, self-care step is getting enough sleep.
And remember the saying, You are what you eat? Turns out nutrition can either boost your immunity or tank it. “You want to practice what I call ‘eating clean,’” Kingen says. “Avoid simple sugar, sugary juices and alcohol. That sugar is going to make your system more challenged and cause more inflammation in your body. Eat colorful vegetables, healthy fruits and protein.”
She also recommends an adequate supply of vitamin D, which can help boost the immune system and fight autoimmune diseases. Dairy products can be a source, but Kingen recommends brief sun exposure without sunscreen a few days a week.
While the immune system stands guard against harmful little organisms, an estimated 500 good bacteria are working in the digestive system to aid in food digestion and support it. A probiotic supplement, which contains such helpful organisms, is a daily part of Kingen’s personal health routine. “If your digestive system isn’t functioning well because you don’t have the good bacteria, probiotics provide that.”