Chronic inflammation – look for its cause in your lifestyle!

What is chronic inflammation?

Chronic inflammation is a long-lasting, often low-intensity inflammatory process that can persist for months or even years. Once established, if you don't treat its cause, it can make your daily life miserable for the rest of your life.

It must be distinguished from acute inflammation, which is rapid, short-lived and usually accompanied by strong symptoms such as redness, swelling, heat, pain and restricted movement. Acute inflammation can be appendicitis, bacterial throat infection, or hand tendon sheath inflammation caused by excessive tool use.

Chronic inflammation is generally less obvious. Often there are no clear signs, which makes detection and treatment more difficult.

Some forms of chronic inflammation

Chronic inflammatory diseases and conditions can be very varied and can affect different tissues, organs or organ systems. Some examples of chronic inflammatory diseases (not exhaustive!):

Metabolic and cardiovascular diseases

• Atherosclerosis: Chronic inflammation of the arterial walls leading to the formation of plaques. In the environment of some plaques, intense inflammatory processes start that can trigger clot formation. A clot (thrombus) causes vessel occlusion, which, depending on the organ involved, can cause a heart attack, stroke or other serious, life-threatening conditions.
• Type 2 diabetes: A metabolic disorder that develops due to excessive carbohydrate intake, associated with insulin resistance and disturbances in glucose metabolism. Constant sugar abundance causes “stress”, which reduces immune system activity, impairs regenerative processes and leads to chronic inflammation.

Autoimmune diseases

• Rheumatoid arthritis: Chronic inflammation of the joints causing swelling, pain and restricted movement.
• Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): A systemic autoimmune disease affecting multiple organ systems including the skin, joints, kidneys and brain.
• Psoriasis: A skin disease causing red, scaly skin lesions, often associated with joint inflammation (psoriatic arthritis).
• Leaky gut syndrome, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis: Chronic inflammation of the intestinal tract causing abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms.

Musculoskeletal diseases

Joint inflammations and related conditions cover a wide range and can be classified according to their causes and how they develop.

• The term arthritis covers many inflammatory joint conditions. Main types:
  Rheumatoid arthritis (RA): An autoimmune disease causing chronic, systemic inflammation, primarily affecting the joints. The immune system mistakenly attacks the synovial membrane of the joints, leading to inflammation, pain, swelling and eventually damage to joint structures.
  Osteoarthritis (OA), also known as arthrosis: A degenerative disease of the joints characterized by wear and breakdown of the cartilage. It is the most common form of joint inflammation, mainly affecting older age groups and resulting from wear and tear associated with joint use.
• Tendinopathy includes tendon inflammation and degenerative changes in the tendon, including tendinitis (acute tendon inflammation). Tendinopathy is a long-lasting or chronic condition involving structural changes in the tendon and does not necessarily present with acute inflammation. Tendinopathy can develop from chronic tendinitis or gradual degeneration of tendon structure.

Other chronic inflammatory conditions

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): An inflammatory condition of the lungs causing difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, coughing and airway mucus production.
• Fibromyalgia: A chronic pain syndrome that causes pain, fatigue and muscle stiffness; there is a connection between fibromyalgia and chronic inflammation.
• Obesity: Obesity itself is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation, which can contribute to the development of the diseases mentioned above and others.

The role of chronic inflammation in the development and progression of various diseases is complex and remains an active area of research. A deeper understanding of the relationships between inflammatory processes and individual diseases may help identify new therapeutic targets and treatment strategies.

Causes of chronic inflammation

There are many possible causes, including persistent (or inadequately treated) infections, prolonged exposure to irritants such as tobacco smoke or polluted air, and lifestyle factors such as excessive body weight or an inappropriate diet.

Chronic inflammation can result in many diseases and conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, arthritis and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Which factors can lead to chronic inflammation

Infection

Not the most common cause, but nowadays due to excessive and incorrect use of antibiotics, infections may take longer to heal, resulting in persistent inflammation where pathogens invade.

Diet – too many carbohydrates

A much more common cause. Our modern diet contains too many carbohydrates (bread, baked goods, pastries, flour, pasta, pizza, fruit juices, fresh fruits available year-round, energy drinks, sodas, snacks, ice cream, etc.), which provide a very large amount of carbohydrates – and worse, pure glucose and fructose. Constant consumption of these makes metabolism one-sided. When sugar is available, the body produces energy exclusively from it and converts the excess into fat. Constant blood sugar fluctuations increase hunger on the one hand and the byproducts released during sugar breakdown damage cells on the other. Insulin resistance develops. Mitochondria are damaged (oxidative stress) and their number decreases due to one-sided sugar use. It is now established that sugar overabundance is one of the main triggers of inflammatory diseases.

Chronic stress

Stress affects the human body through multiple mechanisms. Chronic stress plays a prominent role in the development and maintenance of chronic inflammation.
Stressors can be psychological, physical or chemical; they activate the body's stress-response systems including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) and the sympathetic nervous system, all of which influence the immune system and inflammatory processes. Persistent stress “switches off” the immune system and the body's self-healing processes — in other words, constant stress triggers and maintains the inflammatory state.
Stress also affects the gut microbiome. The composition of gut bacteria changes, contributing to the development of “leaky gut” syndrome, which further exacerbates the inflammatory state.

Lack of exercise

Physical inactivity contributes to the development and maintenance of chronic inflammation. Fat tissue increases, producing pro-inflammatory substances. It is often accompanied by the development of insulin resistance, changes in immune function, increased oxidative stress, decreased gut microbiome diversity, and the induction of psychological stress and sleep disturbances.
In contrast, regular exercise reduces inflammatory markers and can improve overall health.

Lack of sleep

Sleep plays an important role in regulating the body's inflammatory processes. During sleep (rest), the body's regenerative and self-healing processes intensify.
Sleep disorders — sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality — disrupt immune system and regenerative processes, and are therefore closely linked to the development and maintenance of chronic inflammation.

Treatment of chronic inflammation

Treatment requires a complex, multidimensional approach that considers the causes of the inflammation, the tissues involved and the mechanisms of inflammatory processes. The main goals are to reduce inflammation, relieve symptoms, treat the underlying disease and prevent damage associated with chronic inflammation. Here are some key aspects and strategies for treating chronic inflammation:

Lifestyle changes

• Healthy nutrition: An anti-inflammatory diet with no or minimal carbohydrates and moderate protein intake can noticeably help reduce the body's inflammatory responses already within 1–2 weeks.
• Regular physical activity: Moderate-intensity exercise such as walking, swimming or cycling helps reduce inflammation and improves overall health.
• Stress management: Yoga, meditation, breathing exercises and tVNS (vagus stimulation) help reduce inflammation triggered by stress.
• Sleep: Adequate quantity and quality of sleep are vital for regulating and reducing inflammatory processes.

Drug treatment

In modern medicine this is almost exclusively applied, which in my opinion is completely mistaken.

Inflammation itself is a symptom that draws attention to a larger problem. Painkillers, anti-inflammatories and steroids suppress inflammatory symptoms but do not heal.

The drug treatment of most inflammations is like when your home alarm signals a fire and instead of extinguishing the fire you tear the alarm off the wall so it won't scream. Meanwhile, the fire continues to destroy.

If you go to a doctor, these are usually prescribed:

• Anti-inflammatory drugs: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), corticosteroids and specific anti-inflammatory agents can reduce inflammation.
• Immunomodulators: In autoimmune diseases, drugs that modify immune system function, such as biologics (TNF inhibitors, interleukin inhibitors), can help control inflammation.
• Disease-specific drugs: Medications that treat the underlying disease, e.g. cardiovascular or diabetes drugs.

As you can see in the description, these do not eliminate the underlying cause, they only suppress the symptoms. Drug therapy is necessary in many cases and can be life-saving, but it will not cure you! Change your lifestyle, primarily your diet, exercise more, reduce stress and rest (sleep) properly. These are what will heal you, not the drugs.

Other therapies

• Physiotherapy and rehabilitation: For joint inflammation or other musculoskeletal inflammatory conditions, physiotherapeutic methods (physiotherapy, massage, therapeutic ultrasound, muscle stimulation, microcurrent treatment, softlaser and magnetic field therapies, etc.) improve range of motion, strengthen muscles around the joint and reduce pain.
  I consider microcurrent and softlaser treatments to be the most effective anti-inflammatory modalities.
• Herbal teas and botanical supplements: Certain herbs and natural supplements, such as turmeric, ginger and omega-3 supplements, may have anti-inflammatory properties.
• tVNS – vagus stimulation: By activating the parasympathetic nervous system it enhances regenerative (anti-inflammatory) processes, boosts immune system activity and reduces inflammation.