Stress Stinks 

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Stress Stinks

A stress primer
Stress is our body’s physical or behavioral response to events that alter our homeostasis, or the internal balance required for life under normal circumstances. When we encounter perceived threats or pressure—known as stressors—a biological chain reaction occurs that sharpens our minds, boosts our performance, and heightens our immune response.

This is known as our “fight-or-flight” response and has evolved over millions of years to protect us in sudden stressful situations. This response allows us to run a little faster, jump a little higher—even generate superhuman strength to lift a car off a trapped family member.

Stress can be categorized into two types—acute and chronic. Acute stress occurs after short-term events that lead to temporary changes in our body’s functioning. Short-term mild stress actually helps make us more resilient, and can spark cellular repair and regeneration. Chronic stress occurs when a stressor persists for a long time or frequently recurs, subjecting someone to the prolonged physical and psychological effects of epinephrine and cortisol, and inflammation that may contribute to myriad chronic diseases.

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Inflammation 101 

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Inflammation 101
Inflammation is the immune system’s response to any perceived injury, whether it’s an infection, irritant, or physical harm like a broken bone. With a surge of proteins and hormones, its job is to contain and remove any foreign substances, clear away cellular damage, and initiate repairs. But along the way, a person may experience side effects like swelling, pain, redness, or loss of function.

Inflammation was identified by the ancient Romans, and modern science has linked chronic inflammation with numerous illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, depression, and Alzheimer’s. Improving sleep, diet, exercise, and stress management can modulate inflammation levels, but there is no current cutoff to indicate when inflammation is harmful, or a test to discern whether inflammation is chronic or acute.

Chronic inflammation, much like blood pressure, may not have outward symptoms, but mounting research suggests constant, low-level inflammation as we age—termed inflammaging—appears to lead to attacks against the body’s own cells and tissues in ways that can wreak havoc on our minds and bodies.

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Autoimmune diseases, explained 

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Autoimmune diseases, explained
The body’s immune system sometimes targets its own cells and tissues, resulting in over 100 distinct conditions known as autoimmune diseases. They include Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. Some autoimmune diseases occur when the body attacks just one organ or tissue, while others are systemic.

Roughly 15 million people in the US have an autoimmune disease, and for still unknown reasons about one-third of those individuals have multiple autoimmune conditions. Other unknowns include why these conditions disproportionately affect women and why they cause such varied symptoms. Autoimmune diseases are typically treated with immunosuppressant drugs and steroids.

But recently, CAR-T therapies—originally used for cancer—are showing promise in early clinical trials. These gene-engineered therapies target antigens on problem-causing B cells, wiping out enough of them to apparently restore immune system tolerance. Other cutting-edge experimental approaches target the gut microbiome, seeking to reduce inflammation and disease by altering the gut flora via modifying diets or fecal transplants. GLP-1 drugs are also a recent focus due to early data suggesting they could combat inflammation linked to autoimmune diseases and also reduce symptom flare-ups.

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