whenever i hear that a new health
product claims to reduce inflammation
some red flags go up in my brain it's
one of those words that's gotten more
popular in health marketing in the last
few decades and people are willing to
pay
real money to do something about it but
inflammation is a normal biological
process that our bodies use to keep us
safe
we don't want to get rid of all
inflammation so today
we're going to dig into the inflammatory
response and come away understanding why
those health claims need a little bit
more nuance attached to them
inflammation itself is an immune
response to some kind of problem in the
body
that response might be acute which means
it comes and goes quickly
or chronic it stays around longer it
could be triggered by
any kind of infectious or non-infectious
problem in the body
anything from bacteria in a dirty cut to
frostbite to a splinter
regardless of what initiates it though
the response is similar
from just living and being a human
you're probably familiar with the five
signs of inflammation firsthand
heat redness swelling pain and loss of
function
and they range from mildly annoying to
seriously debilitating but they actually
serve a specific role in protecting you
from further harm
and kicking off the healing process
contrary to what some may think
the increased heat is not there to try
to bake the infectious agent
it's there because the blood vessels
around the inflamed body part expanded
bringing more blood to that area
that's also why the area gets more red
you're passing more red blood cells
through the inflamed tissue
just like how your cheeks get warm and
red when you blush our blood is warm
and with more blood flow we feel more
heat along with more blood
the vessels that transport that blood
expand and become more permeable
which fills that area with fluid and
shows up externally as swelling
pain comes from the stimulation of pain
receptors from the initial injury
or from the inflammatory response itself
finally the loss of function could come
from either increased swelling which
reduces mobility
or from healthy tissue being replaced
with less flexible scar tissue over time
and that's only what we see from the
outside our immune systems orchestrate
all these different chemical messengers
called cytokines cyto for cell
kine for movement they're chemicals that
get cells to move to the inflamed
area you may have heard about cytokines
in the context of a cytokine storm
before
when these messenger molecules recruit
more immune cells which release more
cytokines which recruit more immune
cells and you get this feedback
loop that can cause sepsis or death and
during the normal acute inflammatory
response
they're recruiting mostly white blood
cells to the area to attack
any pathogens and all of this is a thing
so that your body can stomp out
whatever's trying to hurt it whether
it's a bacterial infection or a sprained
ankle
but sometimes this process takes a
little bit longer
our bodies continue to ship chemical
messengers and white blood cells to the
site
and if that creeps into the multiple
week long territory it's classified
as chronic inflammation you don't always
need an acute inflammatory response to
develop chronic inflammation though
like rheumatoid arthritis is an
autoimmune disease that causes
inflammation of the joints there was
never one big injury that kicked it off
either way chronic inflammation is where
this whole inflammatory response gets
more problematic
for instance patients with
atherosclerosis a narrowing of the
arteries around the heart that
predisposes folks to heart attacks
will have elevated cytokines and
inflammatory proteins in their blood
because of that
healthcare providers might look for
inflammatory markers in your blood as a
way of predicting your risk of heart
disease
if your liver experiences too much
inflammation you can permanently damage
the hepatocytes
cells that play a big role in metabolism
and immune function
your lungs are in the same camp one of
the reasons that cigarette smoking is so
lethal is because it causes a constant
inflammatory response in the lungs
that can narrow and stiffen the tiny
airways in your lungs making it harder
for air to pass through
so in the case of livers and lungs
chronic inflammation
literally leads to worse organ function
with that in mind
you can see why people would want to
reduce inflammation and certain drugs do
that but
through different mechanisms like if
you've gotten injured
you might have taken ibuprofen a
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
or nsaid for the pain it works by
inhibiting certain enzymes in your
stomach that make compounds called
prostaglandins
those prostaglandins keep the
inflammation process going so
by inhibiting the enzyme that makes them
ibuprofen reduces inflammation
or people with rheumatoid arthritis
might take a drug that reduces
inflammation by inhibiting one of those
chemical messengers
called tumor necrosis factor alpha both
drugs result in a reduced inflammatory
response
but take different paths to get there
knowing all that we can't say that
inflammation is clearly bad or clearly
good
we need this process in order to survive
but too much for too long
can be harmful thanks for joining us for
season two of seeker human
i had so much fun with season one and
i'm stoked to bring you more videos on
this channel
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