The Chronic inflammation or ‘inflammaging’ One of the signs of aging has long been considered, however, it might not be a universal human characteristic, since a new study of the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University suggests that chronic and slight inflammation associated with aging seems to be a consequence of the lifestyle of industrialized societies and varies significantly among the populations of the world.
The study results have been published in the magazine Nature Aging And they question that chronic low -grade inflammation is an inevitably associated factor to aging, showing that the phenomenon known as ‘inflammaging’ is not a constant in all human beings, but that the environment influences more than what was thought, especially in industrialized societies.
The researchers compared data from four very different populations: two urban and industrialized (one in Italy and another in Singapore), and two indigenous communities with traditional lifestyles: the Tsimane of the Bolivian Amazon and the Orang Asli de Malaysia Peninsular. The inflammatory pattern related to age was similar in urban populations, but it was not repeated among indigenous groups, where inflammation was more related to infections than over time.
“The link between inflammation and chronic diseases such as renal failure is evident in industrialized countries,” said Alan Cohen, lead author of the study and professor at the Mailman de Columbia School of Public Health, in a note published by the center. “But in populations with high infection rates, inflammation reflects more the burden of infectious diseases than aging itself.”
In fact, although the Tsimane had high levels of inflammation from young people, they did not increase with age or derived in chronic diseases, something that does happen in urban contexts. Diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s or heart problems are rare – or almost non -existent – among these indigenous populations. Even when a young Tsimane person shows inflammatory markers similar to those of an older adult in a city, that does not translate into damage to their health.
An evolutionary mismatch between the immune systems and the environment
“These findings really question the idea that inflammation is harmful in itself,” Cohen said. “Rather, it seems that inflammation and perhaps other aging mechanisms could also depend largely on the context. On the one hand, this is a challenge, because there will be no universal answers to scientific questions, but it is also promising because it means that we can intervene and change things.”
To carry out the study, 19 cytokines were measured – proteins that regulate the immune response – in the different populations. While these markers were associated with age in Italian and Singapurenses groups, the same did not happen between the Tsimane and the Orang Asli, whose immune systems are more influenced by constant infections and the environment in which they live.
Some of the most prominent findings of the investigation are that about 66% of the Tsimane had at least one intestinal infection; Among the Orang Asli, the prevalence of infections exceeded 70%, that the indicators of ‘inflammaging’ were related to chronic diseases in industrialized countries, but not in indigenous communities, and that the study questions that there are universal markers of aging, and proposes that the Immune processes related to age vary according to environmental exposure, lifestyle and infections.
“These results point to an evolutionary mismatch between our immune systems and the environments in which we live,” Cohen explained. “Inflammation may not be a direct product of aging, but rather a response to living conditions in industrialized societies.”
“Inflammaging ‘is more a consequence of the modern and industrialized lifestyle than an intrinsic characteristic of human biology and, therefore, can be prevented or modulated if life habits are improved by tending to a healthier life”
Given this, the authors of the study ask to rethink how inflammation and aging in different populations are measured, and propose to create more contextualized tools. “Factors such as diet, physical activity level and exposure to infections influence how our immune system ages,” Cohen concluded. “Understanding these interactions could help us design better global health strategies.”
Antonio J. Ruiz AlcarazProfessor of Immunology at the University of Murcia, who has not participated in the study, has pointed out in statements to SMC Spain that “the information presented by the work fits with the existing data on the subject, but, in turn, it provides a novel perspective when questioning the universality of ‘inflammaging’, a phenomenon commonly associated with aging in industrialized populations and that involves the appearance of a chronic inflammation of a chronic inflammation of a chronic inflammation of a chronic inflammation of low degree associated with age “.
“This demonstrated difference between different populations is not at all unexpected, since there are many data that show how the ‘inflammaging’ effectively depends on various social and environmental factors such as poor nutrition (ultra -processing food), sedentary lifestyle, pollution, etc., which are more present in industrialized societies,” he adds.
“Regarding the implications of this data, the information provided confirms that the ‘inflaming’ is more a consequence of the modern and industrialized lifestyle than an intrinsic characteristic of human biology and that, therefore, it can be prevented or modulated if life habits are improved by tending to a healthier life, that is, with less exposure to pollution, a more appropriate diet (such as the Mediterranean diet) and a greater activity Physics, “concludes the expert.
Source: www.webconsultas.com