IF YOU slice your thumb while cutting bread or slam the car door on your finger, your body will respond. The response to an injury is warmth, redness and
tenderness—in other words, inflammation. This is not a sign of weakness: inflammation is a clever defense mounted by your immune system to repair body damage fast and repel intruders—germs, dirt or toxins, before they pose a threat. Any attack on your body—from cuts and bruises to bacterial or viral infections—triggers this response.
Your body’s defenses are already at work when you become aware of signs of inflammation: a hot, red, tender area. What you can’t see is going on inside; an army of infection fighters called macrophages, T cells and natural killer cells are engulfing and destroying germs and matter that shouldn’t be there, while squadrons of molecular “traffic police” direct the immune system’s work.
Inflammation has always been a part of the human healing process but this brilliant system may be doing its job too well for 21st-century humans. The problem isn’t the short bouts of inflammation that fight infection or heal a shaving nick in a day or two.
The threat comes from the sort of inflammation that can’t switch itself off. Chronic inflammation occurs when the immune system’s powerful defenses are switched on—and stay on. Chronic inflammation is an immune response to being overweight, aging, physical inactivity, less-than-meticulous hygiene, low-grade infection and stress which attacks the very cells it intends to rescue. As a result, your cells are constantly bombarded by immune system chemicals.
Chronic inflammation is bad for the heart because it contributes to plaque build-up in the arteries. This is how it happens. When inflammatory chemicals discover LDL particles in artery walls, they send macrophages to eradicate the unwelcome cholesterol. The by-products of this attack are foam cells (oxidized LDL particles) that form the basis of plaque. As plaque grows, it develops a hard, fibrous cap, but inflammatory compounds can weaken this protective lid, making it susceptible to rupturing and releasing plaque into the bloodstream. Other inflammatory compounds encourage blood to clot and, if constant, low-grade inflammation results in a steady supply of these compounds into your bloodstream, it can lead to a heart attack.
At high levels, inflammation can double or even quadruple heart risk. Researchers have long known that inflammation plays a key role in conditions such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has called for large, clinical trials to study the precise process that triggers the body’s inflammatory response, and how the body responds to damage and stress of blood vessels.
Recent studies by Harvard Medical School found that one marker of inflammation, an immune system molecule known as C-reactive protein (CRP), is a
better predictor of heart disease than raised cholesterol. It may help to identify those who are at risk of heart attack despite having apparently healthy cholesterol levels.
The inflammation triggers
How can your body’s defense system turn you on this way? Just as a smoke alarm is easily set off by smoke from frying onions or steam from the shower, inflammation is triggered by forces such as smoking, central fat, a glut of calories, the wrong foods, lack of exercise and perhaps even daily stress. Other possible culprits include uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. The inflammation response is also switched on by seemingly minor infections, such as gum disease or cystitis. Also,
because we live longer than ever, our bodies’ tissues are simply exposed to more damage. Here are list of chronic inflammation’s major triggers:
Fast food. A high fat, calorie rich meal has a damaging inflammatory effect on vascular function. This is because the level of harmful fats circulating in the bloodstream is much higher than normal for at least 3 hours after eating. The condition is called postprandial hyperlipidaemia. So a fast-food diet could keep inflammation turned up indefinitely.
Abdominal or central fat. Fat cells are described by some researchers as “hormone pumps.” Among the chemicals they dump into your bloodstream are cytokines, which are inflammatory proteins that help to direct the inflammation process.
Oxidized LDLs. When “bad” LDL cholesterol particles meet the harmful active molecules known as free radicals in the bloodstream, a chemical reaction
happens so that LDLs are more easily sucked in to artery walls. There, they set off an inflammatory response that helps to produce plaque, which is loaded with cholesterol plus immune system cells and other substances. Inflammation then destabilizes the fibrous covering that normally keeps plaque out of the bloodstream. These hot plaques are the ones most likely to burst and flood the bloodstream with substances that prompt fast blood clotting and ultimately lead to heart attacks or strokes.
Low-grade, chronic infections. Bronchitis, herpes simplex, gum disease, cystitis, a bacterium called Chlamydia pneumoniae and another called Helicobacter pylori (the bug responsible for most
stomach ulcers) provoke inflammation and send inflammatory chemicals into the bloodstream. While we may not realize it, many of us live with minor infections all the time but because they cause few symptoms, they go untreated. This discovery has led heart researchers to look at using low-dose antibiotics to cut heart disease risk.
Stress and anxiety. Adrenaline, cortisol and other stress hormones may turn on inflammation. Chronic stress may impair the body’s ability to shut down inflammation.
Inactivity. People who take regular physical activity have lower blood concentrations of CRP.
Not eating healthy fats. “Good” fats found in nuts, flax seed oil, oily fish such as salmon and fish oil
capsules—contain omega-3 fatty acids, the building blocks for inflammation-fighting eicosanoids.
Too many trans fats. These hydrogenated, industrialized fats, routinely baked into biscuits, pies and pastries, interfere with the body’s ability to produce and use healthy fats.
