Lupus Triggers Inflammation in Various Parts of the Body

FROM Medical News Today

Heart Disease Is A Major Complication Of Lupus - February Is National Heart Month
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 04 Feb 2008 - 2:00 PST

Lupus is a chronic (lifelong) disease in which the immune system fails to tell the difference between foreign invaders, such as viruses and bacteria, and the body's own cells. The immune system then produces auto-antibodies ("auto" means "self") which mistakenly attack healthy tissue. These auto-antibodies cause inflammation, pain and damage to various parts of the body, including the heart, lungs, kidneys and brain. READ MORE.

TOXICITY: Up to 5 lbs of Chemicals Absorbed per Year from Women's Make-up

From Mercola.com

Women who use make-up on a daily basis can absorb almost 5 pounds of chemicals into their bodies each year.

Some of the compounds present in make-up have been linked to side effects ranging from skin irritation to cancer.

One class of cosmetic chemicals which could be dangerous are parabens. Traces of parabens have been found in breast tumor samples.

Another chemical, sodium lauryl sulfate, can cause skin irritation.

Nine out of ten women also use out-of-date lipstick and mascara, which can be a breeding ground for harmful bacteria. Read More

Ankylosing spondylitis: Chronic Inflammation in the Spine can lead to other Joints and Organs

From MedicineNet.com

What is ankylosing spondylitis?

Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of chronic inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints. The sacroiliac joints are located in the low back where the sacrum (the bone directly above the tailbone) meets the iliac bones (bones on either side of the upper buttocks). Chronic inflammation in these areas causes pain and stiffness in and around the spine. Over time, chronic spinal inflammation (spondylitis) can lead to a complete cementing together (fusion) of the vertebrae, a process referred to as ankylosis. Ankylosis leads to loss of mobility of the spine.

Ankylosing spondylitis is also a systemic rheumatic disease, meaning it can affect other tissues throughout the body. Accordingly, it can cause inflammation in or injury to other joints away from the spine, as well as other organs, such as the eyes, heart, lungs, and kidneys. Ankylosing spondylitis shares many features with several other arthritis conditions, such as psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, and arthritis associated with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Each of these arthritic conditions can cause disease and inflammation in the spine, other joints, eyes, skin, mouth, and various organs. In view of their similarities and tendency to cause inflammation of the spine, these conditions are collectively referred to as "spondyloarthropathies." For more information, please read the following articles; Psoriatic Arthritis, Reactive Arthritis, Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Read More

Chronic Allergies May be Linked to Parkinsons Disease

From Timesonline.co.uk

A study by US scientists has shown that sufferers of allergic rhinitis, a condition that causes symptoms of having a “permanent cold”, appear to be at much greater risk of the degenerative neurological condition. The research, which explored possible links between conditions that cause inflammation and the breakdown of brain cells, found a marked increase in cell death in rhinitis sufferers.

In the paper, published this week in the journal Neurology, they speculate that the inflammation produced by the allergy may release certain chemicals in the brain and inadvertently kill brain cells, as seen in conditions such as Parkinson’s. Between 8,000 and 10,000 Britons have Parkinson’s diagnosed each year, although experts say that in many other cases it is mistakenly identified as a different condition. Read More

NOTE: data is sourced from Neurology, but linked article comes form Timesonline.co.uk. The Journal of Neurology is a fee based site.

Chronic Arthritis Inflammation Linked to Heart Attacks

From ScienceDaily.com reporting Mayo Clinic Findings

Highlight:
Scientists have known for some time that people with rheumatoid arthritis have a greater risk of dying from a heart attack, and a new study from Minnesota's famed Mayo Clinic points to a joint inflammation as the main cause for the trend.

"We believe that inflammation is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease," says the study's lead researcher.

While the experts are still unsure of exactly why rheumatoid arthritis's inflammation of large joints may lead to heart attack deaths, they say that issue is under investigation. In the meantime, they say, it's apparent that, keeping a patient's heart attack risk factor to its minimum is a matter of keeping inflammation to its minimum, too. Read More

How Free Radicals Contribute to Cancer

From e-Articles.info

There may be as many as 10,000 oxidative hits to DNA per cell per day in humans.12 The vast majority of these lesions are repaired by cellular enzymes. Those that are not repaired may progress toward neoplasia (the formation of cancer cells). Because of the continual bombardment of DNA and other tissues by free radicals, the body must obtain ample antioxidant supplies through the diet. Epidemiological studies support a protective role for dietary antioxidants by consistently reporting that populations who consume inadequate amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables are at a higher risk for cancer, heart disease, and other degenerative diseases.

Not only can free radicals initiate cancer, they can also facilitate cancer progression. And in fact, multiple human tumor cell lines have been reported to produce ROS (especially hydrogen peroxide) in vitro.14 Under normal circumstances, few cells other than immune cells produce hydrogen peroxide. Free radical production by tumor cells may help them mutate or display other malignant properties such as tissue invasion. For example, superoxide radicals have been reported to increase the invasive capacity of rat liver cancer cells in vitro. Read More

Inflammation, Heart Disease and Stroke

From the American Heart Association

How does inflammation relate to heart disease and stroke risk?

“Inflammation” is the process by which the body responds to injury or an infection. Laboratory evidence and findings from clinical and population studies suggest that inflammation is important in atherosclerosis (ath”er-o-skleh-RO’sis). This is the process in which fatty deposits build up in the inner lining of arteries.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the acute phase proteins that increase during systemic inflammation. It’s been suggested that testing CRP levels in the blood may be an additional way to assess cardiovascular disease risk. A more sensitive CRP test, called a highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) assay, is available to determine heart disease risk.

The American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a joint scientific statement in 2003 on the use of inflammatory markers in clinical and public health practice. This statement was developed after systematically reviewing the evidence of association between inflammatory markers (mainly CRP) and coronary heart disease and stroke. Read More

Understanding Free Radicals

From Healthchecksystems.com

How Free Radicals are Formed

Some free radicals arise normally during metabolism. Sometimes the body’s immune system’s cells purposefully create them to neutralize viruses and bacteria. However, environmental factors such as pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke and herbicides can also spawn free radicals.

Normally, the body can handle free radicals, but if antioxidants are unavailable, or if the free-radical production becomes excessive, damage can occur. Of particular importance is that free radical damage accumulates with age.

How Antioxidants May Prevent Against Free Radical Damage

The vitamins C and E, are thought to protect the body against the destructive effects of free radicals. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals by donating one of their own electrons, ending the electron-"stealing" reaction. The antioxidant nutrients themselves don’t become free radicals by donating an electron because they are stable in either form They act as scavengers, helping to prevent cell and tissue damage that could lead to cellular damage and disease. Read More

Growing Evidence Inflammation is the Factor in Heart Attacks

From the Cleveland Clinic

Role of inflammation -
Growing proof inflammation is a major risk factor for heart disease

A recent Associated Press story by Daniel Q. Haney has lead to numerous stories in the news and press concerning the importance of inflammation in the role of coronary artery disease development and progression.

Inflammation (triggered by environmental factors or genetic influences) causes a sequence of actions in the coronary artery such as, plaque rupture, thrombus formation and embolization into the blood vessels within the heart - placing one at increased risk for heart attack.

Dr. Paul Ridker, a cardiologist at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital has conducted several studies over the past few years, suggesting the importance of inflammation in triggering heart attacks. This may explain why those with a normal cholesterol level may still have a heart attack. Read More

Inflammation linked to Increased Lung Cancer Risk

From the American Association for Cancer Research and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Gene Variations Link Inflammation and Increased Lung Cancer Risk

Inflammation is part of the immune system’s arsenal to combat the effects of infection and cell damage. However, prolonged or intense inflammation could lead to conditions within the lung environment that foster cancer, Engels said. Previous studies have shown that diseases associated with lung damage, such as tuberculosis and asthma, increase the risk of developing lung cancer. Likewise, exposure to tissue-damaging substances like silica and asbestos, inhaled into the lungs, has also been shown to increases lung cancer risk. Read More

Chronic Inflammation Linked to Cancer

From the American Cancer Society

Chronic Inflammation Linked to Cancer

Body's Immune Systems Can Make Healthy Cells Change

Article date: 2002/06/06

The relationship between chronic inflammation and cancer gets a careful look in a report in the journal Oncology (Vol 16, No 2: 217-229). Some cancers are known to occur more frequently in people with certain inflammatory diseases — like inflammatory bowel disease and hepatitis. The authors believe an understanding of what is going on in the cells of these diseases may one day lead to better prevention and treatment for cancer. Read More

FDA Issues Anti-Inflammatory Drug Alert

From WebMD.com
by Todd Zwillich

WebMD Medical News

Back in April 7, 2005 the following announcement was made -- The popular arthritis drug Bextra will be pulled from the U.S. market under a decision issued by the FDA Thursday.

FDA officials say they asked Pfizer -- the drug's maker -- to remove it from U.S. pharmacies because its risks of heart, stomach, and skin problems clearly outweighed its benefits. Read More

The FDA provided a detailed list of drugs included in the Anti-Inflammatory Drug Alert. Read More.

Inflammation/ Free Radicals and Parkinson's Disease

From Annalsonline.org (New York Academy of Sciences)
M. FLINT BEAL
The pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains obscure, but there is increasing evidence that impairment of mitochondrial function, oxidative damage (free radicals) , and inflammation are contributing factors. The present paper reviews the experimental and clinical evidence implicating these processes in Parkinson's Disease. Read More.

Free Radicals and Parkinson's Disease

From News-Medical.net
University of Virginia Health System

Research by neuroscientists at the University of Virginia Health System shows that oxygen free radicals are damaging proteins in mitochondria, the tiny cellular 'batteries' of brain cells.

This damage may be one main cause of Parkinson's Disease (PD), the chronic movement disorder that affects at least one million Americans. UVa scientists believe the damage is taking place in a large protein structure called complex I, the first stop in the electron transport chain, which produces an electrical charge inside mitochondria. Mitochondria then use this electrical charge to make energy.

Using the brain cells from deceased Parkinson's patients who donated to the UVa brain bank, Dr. Jim Bennett, a UVa neurologist, and colleagues, isolated complex I from the mitochondria of ten Parkinson's brains and compared them to the complex I proteins from twelve normal brains. They discovered that the complex I assembly in Parkinson's had 50 percent more damage from oxygen. The complex I in Parkinson's brains also had evidence of not being properly assembled and had reduced electron flow, Bennett said.

"This part of the protein complex is being damaged by oxygen free radicals more in a brain with Parkinson's than it is in someone of same age who does not have PD," Bennett said. His research is published in the Journal of Neuroscience. Read More.

Inflammation and Depression

From ScienceDaily.com and Emory University Health Sciences Center

Individuals with major depression have an exaggerated inflammatory response to psychological stress compared to those who do not suffer from depression, according to a study by researchers at Emory University School of Medicine. Because an overactive inflammatory response may contribute to a number of medical disorders as well as to depression, the findings suggest that increased inflammatory responses to stress in depressed patients may be a link between depression and other diseases, including heart disease, as well as contributing to depression itself. Read More.

Free Radicals and Heart Disease

From National Institutes of Health/ PubMed.gov

The Role of Oxidative Stress and the Genesis of Heart Disease

Although researchers in radiation and cancer biology have known about the existence of free radicals and their potential role in pathobiology for several decades, cardiac biologists only began to take notice of these noxious species in the 1970s. Read More.

Free Radicals and Diabetes

From the National Institutes of Health/ PubMed.gov

• Oberley LW.

Radiation Research Laboratory, Department of Radiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242.

The role of active oxygen species in diabetes is discussed in this review. Type I diabetes is caused by destruction of the pancreatic beta cells responsible for producing insulin. In humans, the diabetogenic process appears to be caused by immune destruction of the beta cells... Not only are oxygen radicals involved in the cause of diabetes, they also appear to play a role in some of the complications seen in long-term treatment of diabetes. Read More.

Toxicity Connection in Diabetes

From Oxford Journals/ Toxicological Sciences
Nicole Burns ¹ and Barry Gold ^{1 *}


Type 1 diabetes in humans arises from the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic -cells and typically presents in childhood. Genetic susceptibility is an underlying cause, but environmental agents, i.e., toxins and viruses, are postulated to be initiating factors. Read More

Inflammation Connection in Asthma Broader than Originally Thought

From Respitory-Research.com

Abstract
		Asthma was originally described as an inflammatory disease that predominantly involves the central airways. Pathological and physiological evidence reported during the past few years suggests that the inflammatory process extends beyond the central airways to the peripheral airways and the lung parenchyma. The small airways are capable of producing T-helper-2 cytokines, as well as chemokines, and they have recently been recognized as a predominant site of airflow obstruction in asthmatic persons. The inflammation at this distal site has been described as more severe than large airway inflammation. These findings are of great clinical significance, and highlight the need to consider the peripheral airways as a target in any therapeutic strategy for treatment of asthma. Read More

Inflammation Factor in Attention Deficit/ ADDHD

From ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of The National Institutes of Health
Is inflammation a key factor in Attention Deficit?
Purpose Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent childhood neuropsychiatric disorder, characterized by age-inappropriate and impairing levels of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Approximately 5-10% of school-age children are affected by ADHD, and in many cases, symptoms persist into adolescence and adulthood.

Cytokines are key mediators of immune function and can be either pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory. Recently few studies have suggested involvement of cytokine pathways in subjects with ADHD.

Polymorphism of IL-1 receptors antagonists' alleles have been suggested in families and subjects suffering from ADHD. Moreover, a new variant of inflammatory bowel disease, another immunological based disease, was recently suggested in children with ADHD and other developmental disorders. There are no other published reports on cytokine production in children who suffer from ADHD.

The aim of this study is to investigate the inflammatory response in children with this disorder. Read More.

Can Drugs for Arthritis Have Harmful Levels of Toxicity?

From the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health
Contributed by The Department of Medicine, Standford School of Medicine, CA

OBJECTIVE. To compare the toxicities of commonly employed disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS. Toxicity Index scores, computed from symptoms, laboratory abnormalities, and hospitalizations attributable to DMARD therapy, were assessed in 2,747 patients. Read More

What is Inflammation?

From The Cleveland Clinic Health Information Center

Inflammation is a process by which the body’s white blood cells and chemicals protect us from infection and foreign substances such as bacteria and viruses.

In some diseases, however, the body’s defense system (immune system) inappropriately triggers an inflammatory response when there are no foreign substances to fight off. In these diseases, called autoimmune diseases, the body’s normally protective immune system causes damage to its own tissues. The body responds as if normal tissues are infected or somehow abnormal. Read More

Inflammation: The Root of all Evil in Diabetes and the Dysmetabolic Syndrome

From Medscape.com
Aaron I. Vinik, MD, PhD, FCP, FACP

At this year's EASD Meeting, the Camillo Golgi lecture was given by Professor Antonio Ceriello, Chair of Internal Medicine, University of Udine, Italy. Professor Ceriello has systematically studied the role of oxidative stress as a contributor to insulin resistance, as well as a possible factor affecting pancreatic islet dysfunction.^[1] He proposed that free radicals were generated in excess, causing inflammation damaging to the endothelium of muscle, fat, and pancreatic islets. This concept thus implicates inflammation in both sides of the equation leading to the dysmetabolic syndrome and culminating in type 2 diabetes -- notably insulin resistance and impaired beta-cell function. Read more (free site, but requires registration)

The Science of Mangosteen

From LoveMangosteen.net
by Less Berenson, M.D., F.A.C.P. Rev 10-19-2006
The Mangosteen fruit and its rind (or "pericarp") represent an extremely powerful, natural antinflammatory. Inflammation is a key link to Cancer, Alzheimer's, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Allergies, Arthritis, and Autoimmune Disease. Dr Berensen provides in laymans language how Mangosteen can be successfully used both in addition to, and as a substitute to traditional medicine. Read more. http://www.lovemangosteen.net/files/scienceofmangosteen.pdf