ABSTRACT
Cellular Signaling ...............................................................................48 2.5 Attenuation of Inflammatory Processes through Diet .................................... 49
2.5.1 General Nutrition ................................................................................ 49 2.5.2 Cellular Signaling ............................................................................... 51
2.5.2.1 Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Arachidonic Acid, Eicosapentaenoic Acid, and Docosahexaenoic Acid ........... 52
2.5.2.2 Proinflammatory Signal Transduction ................................. 55 2.6 Attenuation of Inflammatory Processes through Exercise .............................65 2.7 Summary and Recommendations ................................................................... 70
2.7.1 Inflammation ...................................................................................... 70 2.7.2 Prevention of Inflammation ................................................................ 71 2.7.3 Dietary Recommendations ................................................................. 73 2.7.4 Exercise Recommendations ................................................................ 75
Acknowledgment ..................................................................................................... 75 References ................................................................................................................ 75
From the standpoint of health and chronic diseases, inflammation certainly appears to be the scourge of humankind. Inflammation is not, however, considered to be a disease. This is in spite of the fact that a variety of processes that are associated with inflammation are fundamental to the cause of many chronic diseases,1-15 including those detailed in this book. Traditional immunology views inflammation as a component of the innate immune system and a local response to the entry of infectious agents into a tissue and to cellular damage resulting from the infection.16-19 Inflammation comprises a well-defined set of cellular responses that are designed to eliminate the damaging pathogen and initiate repair of the damage caused by the pathogen. The responses are (usually) localized to the specific tissue involved in the infection/damage, and while it typically occurs as a result of some type of infection the same array of inflammatory processes can be initiated by cellular damage that is independent of infection, which is called sterile inflammation. We put this in context with the initiation component of our definition of disease: a disease is a complex process that is initiated by detrimental chemical, biochemical, or cellular (endogenous or exogenous) processes, either alone or in some combination thereof, that if prolonged for long enough or are severe enough, will result in some form of cellular damage, cellular dysfunction, or cell death. Inflammation is a response to those detrimental processes that initiate disease, and it is started at the same time as those initiating events. In this context, inflammatory responses comprise what might be termed a precautionary response, a set of responses designed to limit the cause of impending damage and to “ramp up” repair processes on first appearance of that cause.
