If you suffer from (or are concerned about) allergies, Alzheimer's, arthritis, asthma, cancer, diabetes, depression, heart disease, stress, memory loss, ADD, MS, or autoimmune disease, you may find this information to be invaluable.
Old News
On February 23, 2004, Time Magazine published a cutting-edge article entitled The Fires Within, which for the first time in the mainstream press, as opposed to medical journals, chronic inflammation was named as a major cause of many of the diseases so prevalent today. In addition, the article presented an intriguing concept by suggesting a new and possibly much simpler way of warding off disease. According to the authors Christine Gorman and Alice Park, “Instead of different treatments for, say, heart disease, Alzheimer's and colon cancer, there might be a single, inflammation-reducing remedy that would prevent all three.”
Furthermore, they challenged the whole theory of cholesterol being at the root cause of heart disease and replaced it with strong evidence that low-level chronic inflammation appeared to be at the heart of the problem. (Pun intended.) They pointed out that half of all heart attacks occur in people with normal cholesterol levels and that the most dangerous plaques weren't all that large.
They also brought to the mainstream public that blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a molecule produced by the liver in response to an inflammatory signal, is far more important than cholesterol as a measure of risk for potential heart problems and low-level inflammation.
When we have a bacterial infection or an acute illness, our CRP levels might jump from under 10 to over 1000 mg/L as a normal immune response. But these are not the scary levels that indicate a high risk for heart disease because once the infection or illness is conquered, our CRT levels revert back to normal. People with CRT levels less than .5 mg/L in a normal healthy state rarely have heart problems but as that number rises to, say, 3 or more it can triple your risk for heart disease and women are even more at risk than men. It’s important to note that any long-running bacterial infection, like gum disease or sinusitis, can shift your system into chronic inflammation.
The article also covered allergy, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, asthma, cancer, diabetes, lupus, MS, and autoimmune disease suggesting that well-timed intervention in the inflammatory process might reverse some of the effects.
Since 2004 The Food and Drug administration has been at war with all things holistic in the USA. Natural remedies and holistic healthcare practitioners have been targeted, persecuted and prosecuted. In short, if it works too well, it is removed from existence under the guise of being marketed as a drug.
As a matter of fact, a good rule of thumb to use in deciding if a product you've been using was removed from the market should cause concern, simply inspect the reason for removal. If it was removed because of advertising, it probably worked too well and you need not worry.
If you wish to be proactive in your decision-making process, simply note the authors of the CONSUMER HEALTH - Guide To Intelligent Decisions pictured above and be aware that they are most likely in agreement with FDA policies.
Log in to read the rest of this article addressing the related topics below:
- What works to combat inflammation?
- Where did it all start?
- What is the Secret?
- We are what we eat!
- So where can you learn more about this topic?
