Understanding The Links Between Inflammation And Chronic Disease
June 4, 2012 American parents may want to think again about how much they want to protect their children from everyday germs.
A new Northwestern University study done in lowland Ecuador remarkably finds no evidence of chronic low-grade inflammation associated with diseases of aging like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia.
In contrast, about one-third of adults in the United States have chronically elevated C-reactive protein (CRP). Acute elevations in CRP - a protein in the blood whose levels rise as part of the inflammatory response - are important for protecting us against infectious disease. But when CRP is chronically produced, it is associated with chronic diseases.
"In other words, CRP goes up when you need it, but it is almost undetectable when you don't, after the infection resolves," said Thomas W. McDade, professor of anthropology at Northwestern and faculty fellow at the university's Institute for Policy Research. "This is a pretty remarkable finding, and very different from prior research in the U.S., where lots of people tend to have chronically elevated CRP, probably putting them at higher risk for chronic disease."
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