Diseases & Conditions Archive

Inflammation plays a central role in healing, but left to run wild, this process can lead to arthritis, heart disease, and Alzheimer's.

Image: Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock

Inflammation is like a fire in your body you cannot see or feel. "It's a smoldering process that injures your tissues, joints, and blood vessels, and you often do not notice it until significant damage is done," says Dr. Andrew Luster, of the Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. The damage might show up as arthritis, heart disease, stroke, and even Alzheimer's disease.

However, inflammation is not evil per se. It has an important role in how your immune system keeps your body safe and healthy. "The goal is to keep inflammation in check and not let the fire run wild," says Dr. Luster.

Think of inflammation as the body's natural response to protect itself against harm. There are two types: acute and chronic. You're probably more familiar with the acute type, which occurs when you bang your knee or cut your finger. Your immune system dispatches an army of white blood cells to surround and protect the area, creating visible redness and swelling. The process works similarly if you have an infection like the flu or pneumonia. So in these settings, inflammation is essential—without it, injuries could fester and simple infections could be deadly.

Chronic inflammation

But chronic inflammation can also occur in response to other unwanted substances in the body, such as toxins from cigarette smoke or an excess of fat cells (especially fat in the belly area). Inside arteries, inflammation helps kick off atherosclerosis—the buildup of fatty, cholesterol-rich plaque. Your body perceives this plaque as abnormal and foreign, so it attempts to wall off the plaque from the flowing blood. But if that wall breaks down, the plaque may rupture. The contents then mingle with blood, forming a clot that blocks blood flow. These clots are responsible for the majority of heart attacks and most strokes.

On call

Q. Years ago, my doctor told me a skin growth on my back was a seborrheic keratosis. Now I have more, and they seem to be multiplying over time. Is there any way to prevent them?

A. Seborrheic keratoses are raised, rough lesions that appear as a waxy brown, black, or tan growth. This common skin condition often shows up after age 50 on the trunk, back, face, or neck. The good news is that even though keratoses can increase in number over time, they aren't cancerous or contagious.

Can adopting a healthier diet help fight prostate cancer? That's a question men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer often ask their doctors.

Several studies have shown that in countries where men eat a typical "Western" diet containing a large amount of meat, the incidence of prostate cancer, especially aggressive prostate cancer, is higher than in countries where plant-based foods are a primary part of the diet. Unfortunately, these studies weren't designed to prove cause and effect. So for now, definitive answers about prostate cancer and diet aren't yet in — although researchers are actively studying this topic.

On call

Q. I have just recovered from the flu. How soon can I resume exercise again and can I go straight back to my previous routine?

A. The recommendations about when to return to exercise after respiratory infections, such as the flu, colds, or bronchitis, are vague. One major reason is that each person's response to illness is so variable. But here is my general advice.

Ask the doctors

 Image: © scyther5/Thinkstock

Q. I've read that getting the flu shot annually will weaken my immune system over time. Is this true?

A. A study published in the March 1, 2017, issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases investigated whether getting an annual vaccination against influenza (flu) can weaken your body's natural ability to protect itself from the disease. Past studies have raised similar concerns. Researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway followed 250 health care workers. Some of them got a flu vaccination every year from 2009 through 2013. The others only received the vaccine once in 2009 and not in the years from 2010 to 2013. The researchers then took blood samples before the influenza season (and before people were vaccinated that season), from the members of both groups and looked at different markers to gauge how well their immune systems would respond to the influenza virus. They found that getting an annual flu vaccination did not weaken the immune system. As a group, the people who got the flu shot annually appeared to have a better immune response to influenza than those vaccinated only once.

The awareness of the intersection between inflammation and chronic disease has spawned a plethora of diet plans, nutritional supplements, and lifestyle programs, many implying they offer new ways to improve your health by quelling inflammation. It's true that scientists are uncovering new complexities and expanding their knowledge of factors that may contribute to inflammation or help counter it. But much of the heavily hyped guidance for an anti-inflammation lifestyle boils down to the same no-nonsense health advice your grandmother might have given you. 

Make healthy food choices

Our diets play an important role in chronic inflammation because our digestive bacteria release chemicals that may spur or suppress inflammation. The types of bacteria that populate our gut and their chemical byproducts vary according to the foods we eat. Some foods encourage the growth of populations of bacteria that stimulate inflammation, while others promote the growth of bacteria that suppress it. 

They're not yet FDA-approved, but the devices are available and safe — if you know what to look for.

When Congress passed the Over-the-Counter (OTC) Hearing Aid Act in 2017, it opened up a new world of possibility for people with hearing loss. Instead of paying $5,000 for a pair of FDA-approved hearing aids and follow-up service, you could pay hundreds of dollars for an OTC pair from any seller — no doctor appointments, hearing tests, or fittings needed. The devices would have the same fundamental technology as traditional hearing aids, they'd be targeted to people with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss, and the FDA would ensure quality by regulating and approving the OTC devices.

But almost four years later, the OTC hearing aid category and its safety and labeling rules are still tied up in red tape.