I’ve recently noticed that chronic inflammation is now often described as a condition that leads to an accelerated demise of personal health, and eventually, an earlier death. This NYT interactive piece (I couldn’t find a “share” button, so hope it’s just a freebie) does a good job of summarizing the issue. However, it doesn’t seem to give any answer to “How do I know I have it, and what can I do about it now?”
Curious if any other dopers have experience with the condition, or just any general thoughts or discussion items on the topic.
I have a couple of other threads like this in mind, but let’s see if there’s any interest on this one.
I am overweight, and this is correlated with chronic inflammation. But in addition to this, I have a mysterious affliction which might be long COVID where I have crashes and brain fog every afternoon. I learned about inflammation when I was looking into ways to address this issue. There aren’t really any treatments for long COVID so I’ve been on my own.
Supposedly you can reduce inflammation by lowering your carb intake. I’d also wager that fruits and vegetables help (for me, not all carbs are created equal. I reject the demonization of fruits and vegetables.)
I’ve always suspected that I suffer from chronic inflammation. I have all types of things that would spur inflammation - obesity, insulin resistance, PMOS, Type 2 Diabetes, TMJ, sleep apnea. Although most of that stuff is related to each other, not just through inflammation.
I have been on a GLP-1 for like 10 years now, and while I do feel better overall I still feel like shit a lot.
Tuesday I had one of my really bad days (which are fortunately few and far between anymore) where period inflammation spurred jaw inflammation and hip inflammation (I have a torn labrum in my hip) and everything hurt from the top of my head to my feet. Just an aching and a burning all through my body. The best I could do was lie still for a while, with my lying-down jaw splint in place (yeah I have different ones for lying down and being upright), and pass out on the floor. But, life calls and I eventually had to get up and move when I can, and eventually go to bed.
Woke up Wednesday basically feeling hungover and tired but pain-free. It took me a while to get out of my fog but by evening I was able to function normally. It’s not like I have residual soreness from muscle or joint pain yesterday, as if I had injured something or worked too hard. The pain is just gone.
Diet definitely does play a part in managing flare-ups. So does exercise. If I keep my hip and back happy with daily exercise, inflammation stays at bay and doesn’t take over.
But, I can’t avoid the inflammation that comes from “inside the house” - hormone fluctuations of my cycle. If I can keep all of the other sources of inflammation at bay well enough, the hormone flux won’t bother me as much. But if maybe I’m eating too much sugar on the right day of my cycle then game over. Flat on the floor.
There are antiinflammatory drugs like Meloxicam, which in my experience is a miracle cure for acute inflammation. I know that Meloxicam is not supposed to be used for long periods, but aren’t there other antiinflammatories that can help?
Personal anecdote: my wife has chronic joint pain which is apparently partially due to arthritis and partially due to chronic inflammation. Since starting Wegovy a few months ago, she has experienced a dramatic reduction in joint pain. She had to stop the Wegovy for 2 weeks recently and the joint pain returned, then disappeared again when she restarted the Wegovy.
Like you said - carbs. And just eating balanced macros. I try to prioritize proteins and fats and stay away from straight up sugar (candy and high-sugar fruits).
A few years ago, “inflammation” was widely considered “woo.” I understand that reputable places are now talking about it but is there hard science behind this? Tests for it? Treatments? Good studies? I’m genuinely curious and interested.
As for the afternoon crashes, my partner and I have long noted our “3 o’clock poops,” as in, “Gee, I’m pooped and could use a nap!” where we just crash for a bit. We have found that drinking water helps a lot with this.
Your body turns carbs directly into sugar. Eating pasta or other noodles, to eat healthy is kind of a joke. You need protien like meat, fat because that is where the energy is. And eat less of everything.
Inflammation is GOOD. We need inflammation. It prevents infections and heals tissues.
What is bad is dysfunctional chronic inflammation, rather than inflammation appropriately responding to specific needs.
The analogy holds for the much maligned “stress” as well - our bodies and minds require stress. It results in growth. Think exercise. Stress is bad when it is more than our systems can handle and when it is chronic without any chance to recover from it.
Reducing inflammation nonspecifically is not a great long term strategy. Having nutrition and other lifestyle habits that facilitate functional well regulated inflammation is the best ticket. Yes regular exercise with adequate recovery. Plant forward nutritionally. High fiber. Whole grains. Fairly little red, and especially processed red, meats. Even less ultraprocessed foods. Fruits including a variety of them inclusive of “high antioxidant” ones.
And timely this just seen by me on the NYT. Gift link.
Short version. A specific anti inflammatory medication expected to have huge impacts failed in its clinical trial. Not a shock to me. Just lowering it isn’t the point, decreasing the dysfunction is.
So the thread has me digging for updates and it is really interesting stuff. The consensus emerging is pretty much a more sophisticated version of how I’ve thought of it - the emphasis increasingly not on inflammation per se but on the ability (or lack of) to resolve inflammation promptly. Inflammation that spikes and resolves quickly is usually a functional thing; inflammation that fails to resolve promptly not so much so. There are specific mediators that facilitate the resolution of acute inflammation. Resistance exercise is an illustration case: acutely is raises inflammation markers, which also are mediators of muscle response; AND it triggers release of mediators that help resolve the inflammation, building the ability to resolve other inflammation, increasing resolution capacity over time via a practiced network of coordinated responses. Likewise various nutrition profiles build the capacity to resolve inflammation quickly - the Mediterranean diet most researched, but also the DASH plan, and the Nordic diet.
More for those who want to go deeper:
And:
IMHO medications are often blunt hammers to pull out to tune these dynamic networks; nutrition patterns and a balanced exercise plan are much more precise tools.
Thanks. My main open question is still about how to determine if it’s a condition that I should worry about. There doesn’t seem to be a standard routine test or indicator. I never heard a doctor ask about or mention it. It seems like a condition that you can prevent, and that you want to get ahead of. But I also don’t want to change my diet or lifestyle significantly if I don’t have to.