The immune response is the driver behind fighting infection, repairing wounds and generally keeping you healthy. The immune system comprises a variety of cell types that originate in the bone marrow and the thymus and are released to travel throughout the body.
Inflammation is a complex natural response to injury and infection, but chronic inflammation can lead to a variety of serious health problems, including heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. In fact, inflammation is involved in the development and progression of at least 50% of all chronic diseases (e.g. heart disease, Alzheimers, cancer, diabetes etc)
I recently had my genetic profile analyzed by The Gene Company. The results showed that I have a number of variants in genes that are associated with inflammation. This means that I have an increased risk of developing chronic diseases related to inflammation.
However, the good news is that there are things I can do to manage inflammation and reduce my risk of chronic disease. Below is my immune response panel from The Gene Company
As you can see the panel is broken into three segments:
Autoimmunity (immune system mistakenly attacking body’s own tissues) - with a number of green markers and only 2 red markers this indicates my genetics in this area are broadly normal
Pro-inflammatory (causing inflammation) - with only a few green markers and a number of red markers this indicates that I have increased risk of excessive inflammation
Anti Inflammatory (managing inflammation) - with all red but one green marker this indicates I have a higher risk of my body not being able to regulate or stop inflammation once it is started
Overall we can say that my genetic profile means I am more likely to not only cause excessive inflammation but am more likely to not be able to manage the inflammation once it sets in. However from an autoimmunity perspective I have a more normal genetic profile. Interestingly the one area of concern in red, a variant in my IL21 gene, is associated with causing a disease caused by chronic inflammation.
We’ll now focus on the pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory sections but will note that the autoimmunity section is of particular relevance for people with a family history of autoimmune diseases such as asthma, eczema, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, celiac disease,
The Gene Company explains each trait, describes the function of each gene and then enables you to drill into the underlying research of each different variant. For example the below shows that there were 14 different research papers on this variant within the IL13 gene, with a meta-analysis indicating a strong association with COPD pathogens that cause chronic inflammatory lung disease.
With a number of identified genes that have an increased likelihood of chronic inflammation what can be done about it? You have 20,000 genes in your body and not all are expressing themselves at any one time. The Gene Company approach is to focus on the root cause and suggest approaches to decrease the probability of suboptimal genes expressing themselves.
Taking the IL13 gene mentioned before, The Gene Company shows that
avoiding pollution has been shown to be beneficial for this variant - fortunately I don’t smoke however and I cant take steps to avoid areas of high pollution e.g. cities with high smog or working next to the Huntely power station isn't going to help
Omega-3 has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties - The inclusion of wild caught fatty fish (e.g. salmon) in my diet is going to help and I could consider omega-3 supplementation
Looking at both anti and pro-inflammatory segments The Gene Company notes 8 different lifestyle actions that could have beneficial aspects for my specific genetic variants. This includes
Ensuring I get good sleep each night would upregulate 5 different variants
Regular exercise, omega-3 and curcumin supplementation will each upregulate 3 different variants
Vitamin D supplementation, a plant-based diet, managing stress and avoiding air pollution will all have benefits
Inflammation can occur without any noticeable impact on a day-to-day basis, however continual taking of steps that increase the chance of inflammation will accumulate and increase the chance of chronic diseases. Inflammation is involved in over 50% of all chronic diseases. Understanding your genes and taking steps now to manage inflammation is highly likely to be beneficial to your overall health.
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