Inflammaging and Immunosenescence

Inflammation is the root of all disease and sickness. It’s also a signaling mechanism to tell the body’s immune system to attack an isolated area in the body that is subject to illness. During the aging process, the bodily organism experiences two events that could expedite the usual characteristics of getting older—(stiffness, tiredness, soreness, wrinkled skin, etc.) These events are inflammaging and immunosenescence.

What Is Inflammaging?

Inflammaging is when the body experiences low-level yet chronic inflammation. Medical researchers believe this process is the reason for aging, unlike the older theory of compound oxidative stress—(which is partly true.) During oxidative stress, the human body encounters reactive species that contribute to free radical damage. Anti-oxidants reverse free radical damage and maintain the body’s overall balance. Aging, though, happens on a deeper level.

Cells communicate to systems in the body as well as other cells. They need to maintain balance through sophisticated mechanisms like AMPK enzYuniquee-release (read more about cellular homeostasis here.) In the end, cells eventually cease functioning and die. Apoptosis—or cellular death—can happen because of cellular imbalance. It also happens because of age.

Aging begins when our bodies reach puberty. It accelerates after gross hormonal decline usually in a person’s mid to late forties. Hormonal decline can severely impact a person’s well-being.

What Is Immunosenescence?

Similar to the brain, the immune system can become senile. Immunosenescence is the condition of decline in immune function as you grow older. As mentioned earlier, aging along with immune system decline typically begins early in life, and then worsens as age advances. From an immune system perspective, aging can now be seen as a chronic dysregulation of human immune cells and an inappropriate increase in inflammatory activity throughout the body. This combined circumstance then predisposes the human body to multiple system failure and universal demise.

Aging is Two-Fold and Stems from a Network Malfunction

When living beings reach that certain point of age, looking and feeling old can quickly happen. The immune system fails all around, and the body is inflaming itself to signal that it is not healing itself. This cyclical concept of aging promotes the idea that the body’s signaling network is experiencing profound dysfunction.

Interventions—How to Rewire the Cellular Network

Studies have found that resveratrol affects aging and lifespan in mammals. This is partly because it prevents oxidative stress—but it does so much more. It helps regulate different signals that create a pro-inflammatory environment. Researchers are using resveratrol, a polyphenol, to treat the regulation of signaling pathways especially in the neurological system. Findings show that polyphenolic treatments contribute to neuroprotection by reducing the proinflammatory state in the hippocampus, which is the center of emotion, memory, and the autonomic nervous system. Polyphenols also reduce the expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in aging, while increasing the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines with immunity-producing effects in hippocampus. This helps preserve the brain, its functions, and what gives a person their individuality.

There are other polyphenols in other food-grade supplements. Turmeric contains the polyphenolic compound quercetin, which also shows promising anti-inflammatory effects in the body. Anti-aging medicine is also becoming so advanced, treatment for age-related illnesses is no longer a guessing game. There are comprehensive blood tests that show the different markers, which express a need for a specific therapy.

Always talk to an experienced medical provider that understands the intricacies of the human bodily network. It’s easy to over-supplement as it is to under-supplement. Choosing a clinic that specializes in anti-aging and gives tailor-made treatment programs is the best option for an aging intervention.