STRESS & INFLAMMATION CONTRIBUTE TO LONG TERM DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS
Stress and Inflammation are such apparently small, simple words that people use them casually every day. But, there is a broader aspect towards understanding of stress, inflammation, or swelling. Problems arise when inflammation and stress are not regulated and go out of control, then it becomes chronic, and starts to negatively affect the body.
Chronic psychological stress and inflammation are also associated with a greater risk of depression, autoimmune diseases, upper respiratory infections, and poor wound healing.2 Therefore contributing to long term health issues. In fact, 75% to 90% of human disease is related to stress and inflammation, including cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and neurodegenerative disorders.1 Studies suggest that chronic stress results in glucocorticoid receptor resistance that, in turn, results in failure to downregulate inflammatory responses.When you catch a virus, the body will release specific kinds of inflammatory mediators that travel throughout the body and create symptoms, from headaches to joint aches. And it is not the virus itself that creates these symptoms, it is the inflammatory responses of the body.2
Causes and contributing factors that lead to inflammation and stress include poor diet and unrecognized food sensitivities (that includes casein, gluten, and more), nutritional deficiencies, the use of certain medications, exposure to toxins, absence of physical activity, disturbed or insufficient sleep, low grade infections, and chronic gut issues.
So in addition to identify the root cause and prevent long term deterioration, we have to work to understand which factors are contributing to an individual’s inflammatory state and profound stress, which is done with the help of specialized testing, and comprehensive details of health history, diet, and lifestyle.
We do have lab tests that can confirm, that inflammatory messengers are elevated. There are a number of specialized tests we use in functional medicine to look for things that may be the contributing factors, like nutritional deficiencies (micro and macro), gut issues, and food sensitivities, which can help us to determine where and why things are going wrong, thus plan and implement accordingly.
References
- Liu YZ, Wang YX, Jiang CL. Inflammation: the common pathway of stress-related diseases. Front Hum Neurosci. 2017;11:316. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00316
- Cohen S, Janicki-Deverts D, Doyle WJ, et al. Chronic stress, glucocorticoid receptor resistance, inflammation, and disease risk. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012;109(16):5995-5999. doi:10.1073/pnas.1118355109