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.
Rethinking the origins of inflammatory diseases | Wall Street Journal
October 6, 2022
By Shilpa Ravella
There is a yin and yang to inflammation that is analogous to using a fire hose. Too little water pressure in the hose and the fire—be it a germ or another intruder—wins. Too much and the body can turn on itself, drowning in autoimmunity. But sometimes the hose simply leaks, and a low-level inflammation simmers quietly in the body. We cannot see hidden inflammation with our naked eye—as we can the swollen joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and the rashes of those with lupus—or with the tools we typically use to diagnose inflammatory diseases. Otherwise healthy people walking around with this type of inflammation are entirely unaware that it exists within them. There may be no obvious signs or symptoms.
Get dirty—for your gut germs
December 23, 2017
Developed nations with thriving, modern economies and ultra-clean environments have the highest rates of autoimmune diseases. But in countries where sanitary conditions are extremely poor, there are higher incidences of diarrheal diseases and bacterial infections. We need to find some sort of middle ground—an optimal level of sanitation while exposing our immune system to a variety of microbes. How do we do that? The bugs that live inside you, which make up the gut microbiome, are one of the keys to finding this balance.
(more...)Gut microbiome: another reason to exercise
April 30, 2017
In 2014, researchers comparing the National rugby team of Ireland and sedentary men reported in the journal Gut that being physically fit was associated with a greater diversity of gut bugs. But correlation vs causation was debated, as with many microbiome studies.
Newer research conducted in rodents has found that exercise, regardless of diet type, improved the makeup of the gut microbiome and raised the levels of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that nourishes the intestinal barrier and helps protect against colon cancer. Rob Knight, director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation at U.C. San Diego, told Vogue, “That people who move more have a more diverse microbiome is something that we noticed at my lab several years ago, but we couldn’t prove causality…these studies are incredibly exciting”
The newest research conducted by the same authors of the 2014 study showed that athletes had increases in beneficial fecal metabolites like short-chain fatty acids. “Our earlier work, also published in ‘Gut’, had shown that the microbiome of the athletes differed in composition from that of non-athletes, but now we have found that functional behaviour of the microbiome separates the athletes and controls to an even greater degree,” said Professor Fergus Shanahan, one of the study’s lead authors.