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Inflammation is
the common process in all neurodegenerative
diseases where the function of neurons in the central
nervous system is first impaired and later destroyed.
In another section of this website I discussed inflammation's
role in the development and progression of heart disease.
I did, however,
list a large number of diseases for which the pathophysiology
implicates chronic inflammation as either a cause or an
exacerbating factor.
Frankly, I cannot
easily identify any diseases where inflammation plays
no role at all.
However, the two
categories of disease where inflamation
is the centerpiece of the pathology are neurodegenerative
disease and autoimmune disease. Both these classes of
disease are ideal examples of what happens when the body
loses control of the autoimmune system.
The immune system
is arguably the most complex of all the body's systems.
Only the central nervous system comes dose to rivaling
it for complexity. Literally thousands of different specialized
elements make up this system.
As with everything
in the body, the regulation of the function of all these
elements is under the control of our genes. Any influence
that can interfere with this delicate control is capable
of leading to undesirable chronic inflammation.
Infections and
pollution, which can lead to free radical damage of
DNA, are reasonable suspects as villains in this interference
process. The root cause of all neurodegenerative diseases
and autoimmune diseases remains largely unknown. The frontier
of our knowledge about neurodegenerative disease lies
at the point where the effects of inflammation as a destructive
process can first be identified from symptoms.
This is also true
of autoimmune disease.
In autoimmune disease
(and there is good reason to justify some overlapping
of the boundaries between neurodegenerative disease and
autoimmune disease), the immune response of the body has
been subverted to the point where the ability of the immune
system to discern between self and enemy has been lost.
That is, normal,
healthy cells and tissue are mistakenly labeled as the
enemy and the awesome force of the immune system, in a
classic act of misdirection, is turned against the body.
"Friendly
fire" is the term used by the military to analogous action
in combat. There is literally no
tissue in the body that cannot be misidentified and attacked
or destroyed.
In type 1 diabetes,
the beta cells of the pancreas; in Grave's disease, the
thyroid; in rheumatoid arthritis, the joints; in lupus,
the artery walls; in Parkinson's, the dopamine-producing
neurons of the substancia nigra
area of the brain; in MS, the white matter of the brain;
in Crohn's disease, the walls of the gut; and the list
goes on.
In our polluted
world full of mutagens capable of deranging normal
gene function, autoimmune disease is the most rapidly
expanding category of disease with new syndromes constantly
appearing.
Our bodies need
help in the war against autoimmune disease. Because we
do not clearly understand where the problems in these
diseases begin, the best thing we can possibly do is to
supply ample amounts of the phytonutrients in which our
bodies may be deficient.
There is no question
that a trial of nutritional chemoprevention or chemointervention
is justified. It is true we do not have the answers as
to what the body specifically needs to do to repair the
subverted function of the immune system in neurodegenerative
or autoimmune conditions.
However, it isn't
necessary to have those answers in order to simply try
something. Standard medicine rarely suggests venturing
beyond the boundaries of established knowledge for a very
good reason: medicine uses drugs and experimenting with
drugs by using them off-label in blind therapeutic trials
involving a single patient is simply too dangerous.
However, as we've
demonstrated, giving our body a superfruit with literaly
hundreds of phytonutrients the body might use to good
effect is not dangerous.
The interventions
of doctors using drugs certainly aren't able to match
the body's restorative powers when disease threatens.
So why not provide the raw materials
which may be required to rectify an imbalance and then
stand back and observe? Remember, in the final analysis,
when things go wrong the body must heal itself.
Anything we may
attempt as an intervention is no more than a simple assist
to the body. One final note before leaving the topic of
neurodegenerative diseases and autoimmune diseases.
Inflammation's
lowest common denominator is often the destruction caused
by free radicals. This fact is
particularly true in inflammatory conditions of the brain.
Free radicals are often derivatives
of metals such as iron and copper.
Among other studies
of interest, those focusing on catechins indicate that
these botanical nutrients can bind or chelate iron and
copper, thus reducing the level of potential free radical
destruction associated with inflammation.
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