Feb

24

One of memes working its way through the world of health is that a key to health is inflammation. Chronic inflammation is very bad and acute but short lived inflammation is good. The former overworks the immune system and causes damage and the latter shows a health battle response. I looked to see if a comparable effect exists in the market:  

inflammation                      expectation

five 1 week minimum           very positive

justs a single such               neutral

great health

single 1 week max               bearish

chronic health 5 such           neutral

Following this idea up, many plain people with a scientific bent believe that if everyone were to take a statin or Tagamet, both of which prevent inflammation from spreading, the average life span would increase by, say, five years. Information prevents inflamed ideas from spreading and the news from the Chair today about the stress tests served the same function as a dose of the aboves. Along those lines, the worshipful daily studying of the great books, and seats at the head of the house of worship, by those involved in the first 50 billion dollar fraud, the worshipful toasts delivered to him by his best friends at the wedding as described in the current New York Magazine article are right out of Sholem Aleichem and only he could tell a story like this from fiction that would be as terrible as this from real life. Along these lines, let us not forget the recent move of gold above 1000, the movements of the VIX and the Nikkei and scholarly markets' foretelling this recent selling climax, which had first to wipe out the weak longs before doing its inevitable thing. The inflammation idea has legs and is worth perusing I believe.


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3 Comments so far

  1. Tristram on February 26, 2009 12:48 am

    I have been reading Dr. Barry Groves for a few years now, and his focus on diet and specifically how diet affects health and weight is instructive. Diets that are high is carbohydrates have a tendency to promote inflammation related illnesses, while a diet based on a high proportion of saturated fats does not.

    In looking at the relationship between cholesterol and heart disease, there seems to be no relationship other than cholesterol repairs arteries and vessels damaged by inflammation. Therefore inflammation is more of an issue for heart disease than cholesterol.

    In markets, fast money acts like a carbohydrate, quickly converted and used or stored as fat. It’s energy content is low, and excess amounts of carbohydrate (healthy diet) tends to make people fat. Apparently just like the market.

    Saturated fat on the other hand has numerous benefits. It has double the energy content of carbs, you can’t eat too much of it in a sitting because it will make you sick. The more you eat, the more your cholesterol score will fall. It fills the gap left by lower carbohydrate consumption and thereby promotes safe and effective weight loss, and lower glucose scores. Saturated fat is like investment dollars, long acting, stable and an antidote to the chaos of the fast dollars.

    I have noticed that fewer carbs and more fat and meat generates better muscular growth, faster recovery and greater amounts of strength in physically demanding pursuits. Perhaps the government should move beyond the current “healthy diet” of forced injections, over regulation and premature action which have lead to inflammation, fatigue, high blood sugar and cholesterol. The patient is sick, but nothing that a change of diet can’t assist on the road to recovery and renewed strength.

    Inflammation is a symptom of a poor diet, and the government needs to put away the cookies.

  2. Reid Wientge on February 27, 2009 10:58 am

    Why pharmaceuticals? The essential fatty acids found in flax, fish and borage oils, for instance, fight inflammation and aid in muscle recovery. Also, MSM, found in health food stores and vitamin shops, is also an anti-inflammatory and in larger doses acts as a digestive system cleanser. In the case of the EFAs, they can be taken regularly in the recommended dosages without side-effects. I take MSM when particularly sore from the gym or when my sinuses are inflamed from allergies or pollutants. Blood levels in my experience rise quickly meaning that MSM can be taken after the fact.

  3. Heart Cipher on February 27, 2009 8:55 pm

    There are quite a few names used to denote “chronic inflammation.” It’s also been called “systemic inflammation” and “silent inflammation.”

    On account of various diseases that tend to run in my family, I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking at inflammation issues. The key finding of that effort is this:

    The 5-Lipoxygenase Inflammatory Pathway is implicated in an incredible number of diseases. Atherosclerosis, cancer, crohn’s, arthritis, asthma, depression, ADHD, inflammatory bowel disease, and many more are all driven, at least in part by 5-LO and its by-products.

    Here’s the Wiki link to get an initial sense of how “5-LO” fits in with the Cox-1 and Cox-2 inflammatory pathways.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachidonate_5-lipoxygenase

    How are Omega 3 fatty acids anti-inflammatory and healthful? Well, for one thing, O3s are 5-LO inhibitors. Why does Boswellia help with a large number of inflammatory diseases? It turns out that Boswellia is a powerful 5-LO inhibitor.

    Have you seen the new Osteo Bi-Flex tv commercials with the “exclusive” formula “5-Loxin?”

    http://www.osteobiflex.com/pages/osteoTV.aspx

    It turns out that 5-Loxin is merely a proprietary formulation of Boswellia that contains 30% of a specific type of Boswellia abbreviated AKBA.

    Many of the recently developed asthma and arthritis prescription drugs turn out to be inhibitors of 5-LO and/or its pro-inflammatory by-products, including Leukotrienes, Cell Adhesion Molecules, Tumor Necrosis Factor, IL-1, and IL-6.

    How is it that Omega 3 fatty acids have turned out in many recent scientific studies to assist with depression and ADHD? Well, according to 3 scientists at Yale, the pro-inflammatory signaling substances TNF-a, IL-1, and IL-6 work indirectly to deplete serotonin stores.

    www.cnsspectrums.com/aspx/articledetail.aspx?articleid=1590

    Omega 3s are a 5-LO inhbitor and 5-LO triggers the expression of TNF-a, IL-1, and IL-6.

    Now that I’ve brought up depression and a natural substance like Omega 3s, I know you’re asking about Curcumin, St. John’s Wort, and Quercetin. Yep, you guessed, they’re all 5-LO inhibitors.

    I am constantly amazed at how much of what ails us has to do with 5-LO. Turns out a lot of other people are wondering about it.

    http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/reprint/51/20/1990.pdf

    Watch for it yourself and you’ll be amazed too.

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