Chronic Inflammation and Yoga: An Update

by Ram

Yamamoto Takeru no Mikoto between Burning Grass 

by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

In my earlier posts on inflammation (see Chronic Inflammation and Yoga: Combating the Fiery Killer). I discussed inflammation and yoga’s role in dampening the inflammatory response. Briefly, inflammation is part of the body's defense response and involves clearance of toxic pathogens, damaged cells, or harmful irritants from the body. Inflammation has a high beneficial value. For example, if you develop a viral infection or if your back sustains a severe blow, inflammation sets in to care and protect the injured tissue and initiate a healing response. The classical signs of inflammation are pain, heat, redness, and fluid accumulation (swelling), and reflect the body’s defensive strategies that get activated to ward off the damage and heal the injured area. The defensive strategies are carried out by leukocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, mast cells, bradykinin, histamine, interleukins, and TNF, among others. In a perfect setting, the inflammatory process occurs just as it should, releasing defense/pro-inflammatory molecules when needed and then turning them off when the threat has been sufficiently addressed.

Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, is characterized by an aberrant out-of-control defense response and is akin to a constant slow-burning fire. In chronic inflammation the defense/pro-inflammatory molecules continue to be present in the body even when they are not needed and the body operates as if it is constantly under attack. Thus, chronic inflammation continuously draws on your body’s energy and resources, which can result in bodily damage with time. Furthermore, as the system goes out of control, it self-perpetuates and triggers severe disease conditions, including, atherosclerosis (inflammation in blood vessels), diabetes (inflammation in pancreatic tissue), arthritis (inflammation in bones and joints), celiac disease (inflammation in digestive system), fibromyalgia, and neuralgia (inflammation in limbs, muscles and nerves) Ankylosing Spondylitis (inflammation in the spinal region), among others. 

In addition to the factors that influence inflammation that I outlined in my previous posts, today I’m updating that list to include:

Obesity. This is now considered a heightened state of chronic inflammation because of the elevated plasma levels of several pro-inflammatory markers. It is believed that fat cells (adipocytes) themselves trigger the release of a number of these markers in the blood stream.

Physical Activity. People who are physically very active have lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers than their sedentary counterparts, so physical fitness is inversely associated with inflammation.

Emotions. Emotional disorders, including anxiety and depression, can trigger inflammation and elevate the levels of pro-inflammatory molecules.

Stress. Chronic stress can directly provoke increases in proinflammatory cytokines.

Furthermore, inflammation is now regarded as a risk factor for most cancers as well because of the recent evidence that inflammation influences cancer cells to grow, survive, and proliferate. Scientists believe that cancer treatment procedures trigger the inflammatory process that fails to turn off. In addition to the weakness and pain from the cancer therapy procedures, cancer patients now suffer from inflammation that draws on their body’s resources resulting in chronic fatigue. It’s as though the body’s defense system fails to distinguish its own self thus making the body vulnerable to attacks from its own cellular system. 

Yoga can help with all these factors. On our blog we have highlighted yoga’s effects in controlling obesity by making correct choices of our eating habits (Yoga for Healthy Eating), and we discussed the benefits of yoga in controlling stress (Stress, Your Health and Yoga) and emotions (Yoga and Your Emotions). And in a landmark study that I highlighted earlier in Yoga's Healing Powers, researchers showed that cancer survivors who had a regular yoga practice: (a) reported less fatigue and higher levels of vitality, (b) showed reduced levels of several pro-inflammatory molecules in the body, (c) reported less pain and less inflamed joints, and (d) demonstrated significantly improved sleep (see 6 Ways to Foster Brain Health with Yoga). This study not only offered biological evidence of the benefits of yoga, in addition it substantiated people's own reports of their improvement. 

Yoga and yoga-related practices, including meditation, affect cellular processes at many levels that result in immense health benefits. While most of the health benefits may not appear immediately, all the benefits of yoga may become evident with a sustained and regular practice. So the next time you visit your doctor and are told that you have an inflammatory condition, think of yogic management practices.

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