It’s there to protect you, but the body’s natural inflammatory response can also have a downside.
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Age is just a number, right? Well, that’s what we tell ourselves every birthday! But according to scientists, we could be focusing on the wrong number. Instead of determining our health by the years ticked off on our calendars, we should be measuring our inflammatory age, or iage – the ageing effect that inflammation is having on our bodies.
Experts believe ‘inflammaging’ could have a big impact on our health, lifespan and life quality. Here’s how to predict your iage and even turn back the clock.
WHAT IS INFLAMMATION?
When we think of inflammation, we often think of something red, sore and swollen – like a throbbing mozzie bite. But it can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and often occurs out of sight.
Inflammation is your body’s process of fighting against infections, injuries and toxins – hence the reaction when an insect bites you. ‘It’s a normal response that aims to heal and repair,’ explains Dr Verity Biggs, women’s health lead at H3 Health*. When something damages your cells, your body releases chemicals that trigger an immune system response. This may include sending out antibodies and proteins, as well as increasing blood flow to the area.
When your body responds to a cut or sprain, sunburn or a sore throat, this is acute inflammation. ‘It may present itself as redness, itching or blisters, and can be painful,’ explains Diane Ackers from doctorsformula.co.uk. It may also feel hot to touch, which is down to the extra blood flow. Usually acute inflammation is temporary and disappears when the inflammatory response has done its job.
THE DOWNSIDE
Most of the time, inflammation is a vital body response. ‘Without inflammation, our bodies wouldn’t heal from an injury, or trigger the immune system to fight an infection,’ explains Dr Biggs. However, when inflammation goes bad, it can ignite a long list of disorders, ageing our bodies on the inside and outside. This is known as chronic inflammation.
It occurs when the body continues to send inflammatory cells even when there is no outside danger. For example, in rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory cells attack joint tissues, leading to inflammation that causes pain and deformities. ‘Uncontrolled long-term inflamed lining of the gut can lead to long-term structural damage,’ explains dietitian Lola Biggs from Together Health. ‘It can prevent nutrients being absorbed and cause an inefficient removal of waste.’
Chronic inflammation is a lingering inflammation that over time can damage cells and organs. It’s also linked to heart disease, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
CALCULATING YOUR IAGE
Researchers at Stanford University’s School of Medicine and the Buck Institute for Research on Ageing have developed a blood test to measure inflammatory age. This provides you with an iage score – your age based on immune health and inflammatory levels. A higher score indicates an increased potential for disease, while a lower score suggests a relatively healthy immune system. Checking your iage regularly could provide an early warning sign of inflammation-related conditions.
The new test is several years away from widespread use, but the hope is to have it conducted annually alongside other regular health checks in the future.
In the meantime, other ways to measure inflammation levels include C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) blood tests.
