It's becoming more accepted that inflammation is the leading cause of many, if not all, diseases. An increasing number of drugs and therapies are being developed to block the inflammatory processes to treat or prevent many diseases including cancers, infectious diseases and auto-immune disorders. (1)
What is inflammation anyways? To summarize the process, the inflammatory response starts with the delivery of blood components, plasma and leukocytes, to the site of an infection or tissue injury. These components are normally restricted to blood vessels but now are able to access the other tissues outside of those vessels at the site of infection or injury. At this point, neutrophils (another blood component) become activated and have a goal of killing the invading agents by releasing toxic contents that are contained within them. The problem here is that neutrophils can't distinguish between the infected/injured tissues and healthy host tissue so damage is done to both. A repair phase will then begin if the mission is completed successfully. If this acute response fails, the process continues with additional factors and becomes chronic. (2)
The main goal of inflammation is to restore homeostasis, or back to how things were before when they were stable and balanced. However, as tissues are repaired, things don't really go back to complete normal and a shift in homeostasis occurs. Additionally, priority is given to this inflammatory process over other areas of the body. (3) This shift in the homeostatic state contributes to many diseases.
Several studies have shown that this environment is essentially a breeding ground for cancer because the reshaping of the tissue architecture from destruction, scarring and contributing to changes in gene expression induce the growth of tumor cells. (1)
There is evidence that some existing drugs and traditional remedies can keep inflammation at bay. A study in the UK revealed that there was a lower rate of death by cancer in people taking aspirin (an anti-inflammatory drug) over long periods of time. Curcumin, an active component of tumeric and found commonly in Indian cuisine, has been shown to successfully treat IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) according to a study in India. (1)
Further research is always being done to better connect the role inflammation plays to disease. Just this week, $26 million was awarded to a UCSF Professor to fund research to better understand how chronic inflammation causes aggressive types of cancer. This project was the winner of the "Grand Challenge" competition sponsored by Cancer Research UK. (4)
References:
1) Hunter, Philip. “The Inflammation Theory of Disease.” SpringerLink, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1 Nov. 2012, dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fembor.2012.142. Hunter, Philip. “The Inflammation Theory of Disease.” SpringerLink, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1 Nov. 2012,
2) Medzhitov, R. (2008). Origin and Physiological Roles of Inflammation. [online] Available at: http://www.whba1990.org/uploads/4/0/1/1/4011882/nature_inflammation_medzitof.pdf
3) Kotas, M. and Medzhitov, R. (2015). Homeostasis, Inflammation, and Disease Susceptibility. [online] Science Direct. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867415001750
4) https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2019/01/413116/26-million-grand-challenge-project-will-probe-role-inflammation-cancer
What is inflammation anyways? To summarize the process, the inflammatory response starts with the delivery of blood components, plasma and leukocytes, to the site of an infection or tissue injury. These components are normally restricted to blood vessels but now are able to access the other tissues outside of those vessels at the site of infection or injury. At this point, neutrophils (another blood component) become activated and have a goal of killing the invading agents by releasing toxic contents that are contained within them. The problem here is that neutrophils can't distinguish between the infected/injured tissues and healthy host tissue so damage is done to both. A repair phase will then begin if the mission is completed successfully. If this acute response fails, the process continues with additional factors and becomes chronic. (2)
The main goal of inflammation is to restore homeostasis, or back to how things were before when they were stable and balanced. However, as tissues are repaired, things don't really go back to complete normal and a shift in homeostasis occurs. Additionally, priority is given to this inflammatory process over other areas of the body. (3) This shift in the homeostatic state contributes to many diseases.
Several studies have shown that this environment is essentially a breeding ground for cancer because the reshaping of the tissue architecture from destruction, scarring and contributing to changes in gene expression induce the growth of tumor cells. (1)
There is evidence that some existing drugs and traditional remedies can keep inflammation at bay. A study in the UK revealed that there was a lower rate of death by cancer in people taking aspirin (an anti-inflammatory drug) over long periods of time. Curcumin, an active component of tumeric and found commonly in Indian cuisine, has been shown to successfully treat IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) according to a study in India. (1)
Further research is always being done to better connect the role inflammation plays to disease. Just this week, $26 million was awarded to a UCSF Professor to fund research to better understand how chronic inflammation causes aggressive types of cancer. This project was the winner of the "Grand Challenge" competition sponsored by Cancer Research UK. (4)
References:
1) Hunter, Philip. “The Inflammation Theory of Disease.” SpringerLink, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1 Nov. 2012, dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fembor.2012.142. Hunter, Philip. “The Inflammation Theory of Disease.” SpringerLink, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1 Nov. 2012,
2) Medzhitov, R. (2008). Origin and Physiological Roles of Inflammation. [online] Available at: http://www.whba1990.org/uploads/4/0/1/1/4011882/nature_inflammation_medzitof.pdf
3) Kotas, M. and Medzhitov, R. (2015). Homeostasis, Inflammation, and Disease Susceptibility. [online] Science Direct. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867415001750
4) https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2019/01/413116/26-million-grand-challenge-project-will-probe-role-inflammation-cancer
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