All About Inflammation - Welcome
I am Alan Watt, a PhD scientist working in immuno-inflammation research. I am the CSO of NodThera Limited, a biotech developing inhibitors of a protein complex called the inflammasome and the Science Director of a preventative medicine startup XenoVida Limited. This blog is "all about inflammation", and how it affects our health in ways that we are only just beginning to understand.
Inflammation is the classic double-edged sword; without it we would not survive as it is essential for fighting infection and wound healing, but unresolved inflammation, often referred to as chronic low-grade inflammation, is a major contributor to many of the diseases we are now facing in the world.
One hundred years ago, the biggest threat to humanity was infectious diseases. With the advent of antibiotics and improved living conditions the chances of dying from an infection, particularly in the West, has declined dramatically. Unfortunately, over the last 30 or 40 years this decrease has been mirrored by an increase in so called non-communicable diseases - the diabetes, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, atherosclerosis, heart disease and many others. One might ask how it can be, with vastly improved medical facilities and more spent on healthcare than ever before, that all of these diseases can be rising in parallel. The answer is that there is most likely a common etiology or cause and the purpose of the blog is to continue to explore the link between inflammation and disease, nutrition, exercise, biomarkers, behaviour and more.
It really is "all about inflammation"...
Inflammation is the classic double-edged sword; without it we would not survive as it is essential for fighting infection and wound healing, but unresolved inflammation, often referred to as chronic low-grade inflammation, is a major contributor to many of the diseases we are now facing in the world.
One hundred years ago, the biggest threat to humanity was infectious diseases. With the advent of antibiotics and improved living conditions the chances of dying from an infection, particularly in the West, has declined dramatically. Unfortunately, over the last 30 or 40 years this decrease has been mirrored by an increase in so called non-communicable diseases - the diabetes, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, atherosclerosis, heart disease and many others. One might ask how it can be, with vastly improved medical facilities and more spent on healthcare than ever before, that all of these diseases can be rising in parallel. The answer is that there is most likely a common etiology or cause and the purpose of the blog is to continue to explore the link between inflammation and disease, nutrition, exercise, biomarkers, behaviour and more.
It really is "all about inflammation"...
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