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11/12/2007: "Inflammation and Longevity"
I seem to be drawn to research and articles that address human longevity. The human body has gone from a life expectancy of 45 to one of 85 in a little over a generation. By the year 2000, we had over 50,000 people age 100 or older. Better health care? Better drugs? Research is starting to point to several factors. The one featured in the latest issue of Discover Magazine looks at inflammation.
Inflammation is a natural immunological body response to pathogens or foreign invaders. Often times it is the body’s knee-jerk reaction to a cut or virus. The problem is, it helps fight off the trouble in the short run but does the body damage in the long run. The more inflammation your body experiences in its lifetime, the shorter its lifetime. We seem to be living longer because we no longer suffer from early childhood diseases such as measles, typhoid, malaria, etc. “A high infectious burden in childhood results in a high inflammatory burden in adulthood, which results in a shorter, sicker life.”
Inflammation can be responsible for the production of free radicals. Oxidative stress and inflammation go hand in hand within the body. Inflammation can also be blamed for diabetes, Alzheimer’s, atherosclerosis, and heart attacks. As it runs unchecked in the body, it can slowly damage organs. Some of us live with chronic inflammation such as, back pain and latent viruses such as the Epstein-Barr virus (laying dormant in almost all adults). This can slowly damage our bodies and shorten our lifespan.
So reduction of inflammation may be one of the keys to a long and healthy life. That aspirin a day that was suggested for heart health is also beneficial for inflammation reduction. Other natural anti-inflammatory solutions are Boswellia, Grape Seed, Devil’s Claw, and Willow Bark. Also, diet plays a part in inflammation. Foods that are inflammatory include red meat, peanuts, butter, corn or canola oil, safflower oil, trans fats, high sugar, deep fried foods, and farmed fish. Beneficial foods would be those high in Omega 3. Besides diet, stress, lack of sleep, poor water intake, no exercise, and shallow breathing can contribute to the body’s inflammation levels.