Inflammation may be the culprit behind our deadliest diseases | TIME
April 11, 2023
By Shilpa Ravella
That inflammation is a common element in humankind’s top killers—heart disease and cancer—is unlikely to be serendipitous. The intricate link between inflammation and modern chronic diseases is rooted in our evolutionary history. In order to survive infections, famine, and other dangers in brutish ancestral times, we developed hyperactive immune systems and insulin-resistant bodies adept at storing fat. But our modern environment has been markedly transformed, from the food we eat to the air we breathe, how we move and more. Our immune system is exceptionally sensitive to the triggers of this new world, portending a higher risk of chronic, hidden inflammation.
In the 21st century, as hidden inflammation weaves through our deadliest diseases, unveiling this force—seeing what has long been unseen—is poised to make its mark on medicine.
Loneliness isn’t just bad for your mental health–it can compromise your immune system | Salon
April 1, 2023
By Shilpa Ravella
New studies find that being chronically lonely affects us in ways that go deeper than the mind.
The epidemic of loneliness in this country, according to United States surgeon general Vivek Murthy, is a “public health crisis on the scale of the opioid epidemic or obesity.”
How exactly does loneliness contribute to disease? The danger to one’s survival from perceived loneliness can affect various processes in our body, including those involved in metabolism — which governs the conversion of food into fuel, among other things — as well as neurologic, endocrine, and immune responses. Our immune system, in fact, responds to loneliness as it would the threat of a deadly virus, producing more inflammatory cells and proteins. Ongoing loneliness may lead to chronic, low-level inflammation.