What Causes Inflammation? A Comprehensive Look At The Causes and Effects Of Inflammation (part 2)

This is from Part 2 of Dov's article... 
Fat Tissue, Adipokines, and Inflammation
It is no longer believed that white adipose tissue, or fat, is merely a storage organ for excess energy, as we are now coming to realize that it plays an important role as an endocrine organ. In an individual with a healthy amount of fat, the adipocytes, or the individual adipose tissue cells, release a number of hormones and hormone-like cytokines, known as adipokines, which control various aspects of our appetite and our immune system. Of the most interest to inflammation are the adipokines, two of which are the pro-inflammatory messengers TNFα and IL-6.
Your fat, like any other organ in your body, has an ideal size, and functions best when at that size. An enlarged thyroid is major health concern, and can end up releasing too many hormones, causing dysfunction in our body. Fat is no different: once enlarged, it releases more hormones and adipokines. As fat expands through weight gain, the adipose tissue cells release more and more inflammatory messengers, including TNFα and IL-6.
In addition, the increased level of fat “turns on” local circulating monocytes and macrophages. Once turned on, the macrophages begin to release more TNFα and IL-6 as well. Increasing obesity thus promotes inflammation by two pathways: pro-inflammatory messengers are released in increasing amounts by two different sources.
The Good News!!
The good news is that weight loss, even moderate, can cause significant regression in pro-inflammatory messenger activity. As weight is lost, fat cells shrink and begin to release normal amounts of pro-inflammatory messengers. Macrophages stop being turned on, and begin to leave the fat as well. With less macrophage activity, less TNFα and IL-6 are released. Finally, as weight is lost and the overall grade of inflammation reduces, the foods which can cause an inflammatory response in unhealthy individuals start to be better regulated by our body, causing less inflammation or perhaps none at all!
Why You Must Spice It Up


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What Causes Inflammation? Comprehensive Look At The Causes and Effects of Inflammation

April 7, 2012 by Dov Michaeli

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Both the causes of inflammation, and the specific dangers of inflammation have been poorly understood from a scientific perspective. But this is changing. Inflammation is now understood as playing a crucial role in moderating many chronic diseases of lifestyle. Despite this, there is a lot of confusion as to exactly what causes inflammation, and what we can do to reduce it. [read more]

I (Dov Michaeli here) recently came across a great article in the PEERtrainer  website, explaining what inflammation is all about, and what can be done about it. I especially liked the road-accident metaphor. The article is long, so we’ll post it in 3 consecutive installments.

Written By Brian Rigby, Edited By Jackie Wicks , PEERtrainer Founder
Both the causes of inflammation, and the specific dangers of inflammation have been poorly understood from a scientific perspective. But this is changing.

Inflammation is now understood as playing a crucial role in moderating many chronic diseases of lifestyle. Despite this, there is a lot of confusion as to exactly what causes inflammation, and what we can do to reduce it.

This article will discuss the latest science and research, and also provide some practical advice that you can put to immediate use!

Inflammation is very well-defined by specific factors, and if you understand what these factors are and, more importantly, why they are associated with inflammation, then you are better equipped to make choices which reduce inflammation.

Inflammation is not a catch-all phrase for a lack of health, nor is it a result of unknown factors–there are very specific reasons why the actions we make in our daily lives lead to a state of chronic inflammation, just as there are specific mechanisms by which we may reduce inflammation.

What Causes Inflammation?
The first thing which must be addressed is why we get inflammation at all, and how short-term acute inflammation differs from chronic inflammation.
Inflammation is the body’s natural response to injury. Although the symptoms of acute inflammation are unpleasant, they are necessary for the healing processes the body goes through. The characteristic symptoms are pain, redness, heat, swelling, and loss of mobility.
If an ailment ends with the suffix “itis”, it is a form of inflammation. For example, arthritis comes from arthro, meaning joint, and itis, meaning inflammation. Thus, arthritis is inflammation of the joints.
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