I harp on the subject of chronic inflammation. I know, I sound like a broken record...And your doctor never mentions it, most of the health news rarely mentions it either.
Sometimes it's nice to know I'm not the only one, though it would be helpful if more people and doctors recognized the importance of chronic inflammation. But here's an article that appeared this week. It's short, go ahead and take a look.
Where this article failed, is in defining something as simple as "what is an inflammatory marker?" How do you know if you are inflamed? And more important, what do you do about it?
The inflammatory marker is called the CRP test. It is a simple blood test that measures the C-reactive protein, THE marker of your level of inflammation. A low test score (1.0 or less) indicates little risk. Over 1.0 and you have chronic inflammation going on and it is doing bad things. Those are the bad things that keep you from being functional both mentally and physically as you age. Someone recently asked me what is the upper limit of the score...There may not be one, though people with multiple organ failure, have scores over 100--but they are near death. This is not an obscure test that you have to fight to get. Just ask for it.
If you have an infection, your score will be higher, and if you are overweight, your score will be higher. One of the discoveries of recent years is that fat cells are modified cells of the immune system and full fat cells put out inflammatory molecules. It takes more to reduce chronic inflammation if you are overweight. That said, what it takes to reduce inflammation is well understood.
Two of the best things you can do for yourself is get blood sugar and insulin very low and take plenty of Omega 3 fish oils--get a good brand for there are many that are worthless. I prefer Carlson's brand myself. And test. Know your CRP and if it is high, get it down. Not so you'll live to 100 or more, but so that however long you live with be without disease and dementia.
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