Chronic Inflammation: The Silent Reason You Feel Older Than You Are

live thing. >> Yeah. >> Okay, perfect. Oh, I'm going to wait for Instagram. So, we can go live on Instagram as well. There's 10 people. Do you see 10 people in the chat? Do you see a little eye with 10 people or no? >> I see two people. >> Okay. So. Um >> [sighs] >> all right. Just going to give it a few minutes. Wait for people to kind of filter in. >> Watch them pour in. >> Yes. Pour in. Um Okay, ready? >> Yeah. >> Welcome to the MedMatrix MedMatrix Method podcast. Today, I will be hosting. My name is Leah Saifi. I am the media director here, media marketing director. I'm usually on the back end of the podcast. And that's why I'm a new face. Um but I promise I'm very familiar with the content. I write it. Um and I'm joined by one of our providers, Sophia, today, who is in office. Usually, she is not. So, we are so excited that she's here. And and filming a podcast for Dr. Rose's, right? Yeah. Um Sophia, I am so excited to have you. And I'm going to read our little introduction paragraph, and then we are going to get started. So, just bear with us. Um What if the reason you feel older than you are is not your age, but inflammation quietly running in the background? So many people are walking around tired, achy, foggy, swollen, stiff, and slow to recover. But they're told their labs look normal, or that these symptoms are just a part of getting older. In In episode of the MedMatrix Method, we're breaking down what inflammation actually is, why it happens, and how it can affect the body when it stays turned on for too long. We talk about the connection between inflammation, gut health, blood sugar, stress, sleep, hormones, joint pain, brain fog, metabolism, and aging. And why a functional medicine approach looks deeper to understand what is triggering the immune system in the first place. And that's our long-winded introduction. Moving on. Welcome to the Med Matrix Method podcast. This entire episode is going to be called Inflammation, The Silent Reason You Feel Older Than You Are. We're looking forward to it because it's something that our providers see all the time. Um and really a lot of the times people don't investigate why that inflammation can be driving other symptoms. I'm excited to be joined today by one of our functional medicine providers, Sophia, who is going to break down what patients should actually understand about inflammation, why it can make you feel older than you are, and how a functional medicine approach helps uncover what is triggering it underneath the surface. Please don't mind the fan blowing on me. It is a very hot day. All right. Uh here's how today's episode is going to work. We're going to start with our discussion. If you have any questions, make sure you drop them into the comments. After the discussion, we're going to walk through a case study um and show what this is like in a real patient scenario. And then after the case study, we'll return to your questions that you leave in the comments and for our live Q&A. And this is just a reminder that before we get started, this episode is for educational purposes only. This is not meant to be personal medical advice, and it should not replace the care from your own medical provider. If you are interested in receiving personalized medical advice, um we'd be happy to help. You can just visit our website, book a call, and start the pace the process to becoming a patient there. All right. Sophia, let's get started. Why don't you introduce yourself? >> Yes, thank you so much for having me and I'm so glad to be here in person. My name is Sophia. I'm a nurse practitioner. I'm a integrated functional medicine nurse practitioner. I've been in functional medicine space for about 5 years. I love every moment, everything what I do and how I can help patients. >> All right. So, let's get started. What is this? That's what we're going to really answer here. When somebody is inflamed, when we say somebody's inflamed, what is actually happening in the body? >> So, when someone is inflamed, what is actually happening in the body? So, inflammation it's a natural process. It's a It's a response It's a It's me It means that immune system is responding to some kind of threat. It could be either injury, it could be viral infection, it could be some kind of stressor, but it's a healthy natural immune system response to again to to any kind of threat. >> Okay. So, what is the difference between a helpful inflammation and a chronic inflammation? >> So, the difference between helpful inflammation and chronic inflammation, let's call helpful as acute inflammation versus a chronic inflammation. So, again, acute inflammation is a short-term protective response of immune system. During acute inflammation, we have different um cells that are involved in, you know, repairing tissue, in helping you know, that injury to be resolved. Now, with chronic inflammation, that's something that when immune system doesn't when immune system is activated but never never um shuts down. It's always triggered. That's That's when chronic inflammation happens. >> Interesting. So would you say chronic is a type A of silent inflammation or would inflammation Can it be silent? >> Absolutely. Chronic inflammation can be silent inflammation also. Yes. >> Interesting. So why is inflammation sometimes called silent? >> Because uh there can be signs that are not so obvious as inflammation signs. For example, someone's complaining of joint pain or brain fog or poor sleep. That could be a sign of inflammation but silent sign of inflammation not uh as five uh signs of inflammation such as redness, temperature increase, uh pain. Those are acute signs of inflammation. >> Interesting. So can you name five signs of inflammation that might be making somebody feel older than they actually are? >> Uh yes. Five signs of inflammation that's making someone older than they actually are are fatigue, stiffness in joint, brain fog, puffiness, poor sleep. >> Awesome. Um so why does this matter? Why does inflammation matter? Why is inflammation such a major conversation within functional medicine? >> Because why inflammation is uh such a major conversation in functional medicine because inflammation is often a common threat underneath symptoms that seem unrelated. Joint pains, gut issues, skin flares up, uh weight changes, hormone hormone symptoms, you you brain fog, poor recovery. They can all be connected back to uh inflammatory pattern. >> Hm. Okay. And why is it a problem when inflammation gets dismissed as vague or normal aging? >> Uh why is this a problem when inflammation gets dismissed as uh normal aging? Uh patients may be told, you know, it's a process of aging uh and it's expected. However, you know, feeling exhausted, feeling uh foggy, feeling swollen, have slow recovery, uh can be a sign that the body is under a lot of stress. Uh so, functional medicine ask what is it driving that stress? >> Interesting. So, how can inflammation affect metabolism and body composition? >> How can inflammation affect metabolism and body composition? Inflammation can interfere with insulin sensitivity, blood sugar regulation, appetite signals, fat storage, energy production, and muscle recovery. This can make weight and body composition feel harder to manage. >> How? I'm I'm a little lost. Sorry. Can you elaborate? >> Elaborate on how how inflammation >> affects if if it affects energy production, how does inflammation affect muscle recovery? Can you break that down? >> So, uh for example, uh you know, if uh someone is uh have for example insulin resistance or in in uh that will increase glucose level in the blood and that will make people feel very fatigued. Uh so, that's uh in in again, if uh going back to uh you know, recovering after exercise, if someone has insulin resistance, that would also affect how uh someone is recovering after their exercise. >> Oh, interesting. Okay. So, how can it affect the brain and nervous system and the nervous system inflammation? >> How inflammation affect the brain and nervous system? Uh Again, it it affects the same in the same way. Someone, for example, who has a poor sleep, um it's a sign of inflammation that could cause, you know, brain fog. Someone who does not get 7 to 8 hours of sleep, that can create a, you know, again, can affect the brain brain activity or um you know, someone who has disbalance of hormones can also that can affect their mental status, their nervous system, their brain activity. >> Interesting. So, what are some of the symptoms? I know we kind of spoke a lot about the symptoms and the root causes of inflammation, but if we could really focus on that, what symptoms might suggest inflammation is a part of the picture? >> What symptoms might suggest inflammation is part of the picture? Fatigue, joint pain, stiffness, brain fog, weight gain, digestive issues, you know, skin flare-ups, headaches, poor sleep, frequent um slow recovery, uh you know, those are all symptoms part of inflammation, suggestive of inflammation. >> Okay. So, if we could kind of break that down a little bit because that sounds pretty well-rounded, that answer of there that's all over the place, right? That could be that seems like it's very multi-systemic. So, could you elaborate on why all these different things, like these multi-systemic things, can impact inflammation or can suggest inflammation? >> Uh why are they can suggest inflammation? Uh >> Yeah, it seems very all over the place, you know, everything from joint pain to digestion. Like those seem like two different things, to headaches. Those are three completely different things. >> Well, they are not. Uh they're not because uh for example, you know, everything begins uh with good gut health. All right? If we have inflammation in guts, that will affect uh you know, will have an you know, has an effect will have can have an effect in joint pain. It can have an effect on skin quality. So, uh they actually things that we think are not connected very closely connected. Uh and mainly gut health uh is very important in uh inflammation, especially chronic inflammation. >> Interesting. Okay, you see, I didn't think they don't sound connected, which is interesting because I mean, again, I'm working in the functional medicine clinic, so >> [laughter] >> and and I'm constantly told everything is connected. So, what are five common reasons that inflammation can happen in the first place? >> Uh five common reason inflammation can happen in the first place, uh you know, gut dysfunction, uh blood sugar instability, uh insulin resistance, again, going back to poor sleep, chronic stress, uh infections, uh autoimmune activity, uh I I think I listed more than five, but they're Yeah, those are some of the reasons why um you know, inflammation can happen. >> Oh, okay. So, how can gut problems create inflammation throughout the body? You kind of touched on this. Can you elaborate? >> How can gut problems create inflammation throughout the body? The gut is closely connected to immune system. Poor digestion, dysbiosis, dysbiosis means uh imbalance of good bad bacteria in the gut. Food reactions, you know, gut gut barrier issues, infections, chronic irritation in the gut can all send inflammatory signals beyond the digestive tract. >> Interesting. So, how can blood sugar issues and insulin resist or insulin resistance drive inflammation? >> How do blood sugar issues and insulin resistance drive inflammation? So, insulin resistance increase visceral fat. And visceral fat in in turns then it can create inflammatory markers that can in in in turn turn on the inflammatory patterns or inflammatory cascade. >> Oh, wow. And how does visceral fat matter in inflam- in the inflammation conversation? >> Because like I said, visceral fat can activate inflammatory markers. >> Oh, okay. So, what are three things people do every day that can quietly keep inflammation turned on? >> Uh three things that people do every day that quietly keeps inflammation turned on? Poor sleep, chronic stress, um ultra-processed foods, you know, eating processed foods, you know, alcohol, smoking, not exercising. Again, it's more than three. >> [laughter] >> Okay, and what are three examples of symptoms that seem unrelated, but might actually be connected by inflammation. >> Three example that of symptoms that seem not unrelated but can be related to inflammation. Joint pain, fatigue, brain fog. >> Okay. So, let's move kind of into the conventional approach, right? Where does conventional care kind of fall short when patients complain about inflammation type symptoms? >> Where do conventional medicine fall fall short? Uh when patient see providers in in conventional medicine space, they're usually given a medication for pain, medication for fatigue, medication for skin issue, digestion, and that's basically where it stops. In functional medicine, we go beyond medications and we'll look into gut health, we'll look into lifestyle, we'll look into sleep, we'll look into hormonal imbalance, and so on. >> All right. And how can those or why can those basic labs miss the bigger inflammation picture? >> Because basic labs are only cover basic things and in order to uh dive deeper into chronic inflammation, we need to have markers such as fasting insulin, we need to know nutritional status of a person, we need to have gut markers, thyroid pattern, uh autoimmune screen. >> Mhm. What's the biggest difference between treating inflammation symptoms and finding the source of inflammation? >> So, the the biggest difference between treating inflammation system symptoms and finding the source of inflammation, treating symptoms may quiet pain, skin flare-ups, digestive discomfort, fatigue, but it can but it does it very temporary. Finding the source of inflammation and treating the source of inflammation will uh will keep the inflammatory response turn off. >> Okay. Why do patients often end up trying random anti-inflammatory diets or supplements on their own? >> Why people try random things or when when they are inflamed? Because they can't get answers. Because they don't feel optimal, they feel in pain, and they are start, you know, they turn to, you know, different things that can might help them. >> Let's go to a functional medicine approach now. What or how does functional medicine approach inflamma- like inflammation differently? >> How functional medicine approach inflammation differently? Functional medicine ask, "What is triggering inflammation and why it's not resolved?" It looks at gut health, immune function, blood sugar, hormones, sleep, stress, nutrition, toxins, infections, nutrient status, and lifestyle. >> Uh what are five labs or markers that can give a better picture of inflammation? >> Five labs or markers that can give a better picture of inflammation are HS-CRP, it ESR, fasting insulin, hemoglobin A1C, glucose, and I can go on and on. >> Okay. Can you go on and on? >> Yes. Uh ferritin, uh thyroid markers, B12, iron markers, liver markers, autoimmune markers. >> Okay. So, what are um three reasons that an anti-inflammatory plan might not work for everyone? >> Three reason why anti-inflammatory plan might not work for everyone, uh people are different. There and there are different triggers that trigger anti- that trigger inflammatory response. Uh one patient might need gut support, another may need blood sugar stabilization, um another will need help with sleep. Uh so, it's just a personalized approach to uh inflam- to inflammation and aging. >> [snorts] >> Okay. And how does nut- how does nutrition fit into an inflammatory plan? >> How nutrition fits into inflammatory plan. Functional as functional medicine looks at uh how much protein intake person has, blood sugar balance, sorry, [clears throat] fiber, food quality, uh you know, uh is the person taking omega fish oil, uh you know, can can gut tolerate those supplements and and food that person is taking. Um so, that's um that's how nutrition looks into um inflammation plan. >> Okay. And what role does sleep and stress regulation play in lowering inflammation? >> So, sleep and stress, how was the the role sleep and the role sleep and stress uh play in lowering inflammation? Uh sleep effects cortisol level, blood sugar levels. Um it's also uh play a role in our immunity. Uh it plays a role in in recovery and in pain sensitivity on in hormone balance. Having a good night sleep uninterrupted good night 7 to 8 hours of sleep is very important for all of these reasons. >> And what are three signs inflammation is actually improving? >> Three signs inflammation is actually improving are better energy, less pain, better sleep. >> Okay. Um let's go to kind of a MedMatrix centric plan, all right? When somebody comes to MedMatrix feeling inflamed, exhausted, and older than they are, where does that process begin? >> When someone comes to MedMatrix feeling inflamed, exhausted, and older than they are, the process begin with first discovery call. We have our patient success coordinators who have a discovery call with patients to go over their symptoms to just you know, question why they're looking for functional medicine and how we at MedMatrix can be helpful to that particular patient. And then you know, we take a full history, symptoms timeline, nutrition review, medication. After that person will have a comprehensive lab testing and after comprehensive lab testing will schedule a provider meeting a meeting with a provider. >> Okay. Um what would MedMatrix evaluate to understand what's driving inflammation? >> What MedMatrix will evaluate to understand what is driving inflammation? Blood sugar, insulin resistance, we check gut health, thyroid function, hormones, nutrient status. Uh We check inflammatory markers, liver function. We ask about sleep quality, you know, stress. Environmental exposures and lifestyle triggers. >> And what might a personal a personalized inflammation plan include? >> A personal personalized inflammation plan might include nutrition changes, blood sugar support, gut support, sleep optimization, stress regulation, nutrient repletion, movement guidance, toxin reduction strategies when appropriate. >> Okay. Can you walk through a case where inflammation was the missing link? >> Can I walk through a case where inflammation was the missing link? >> So a case study, yes. >> A case study. Yes. Um You want me to just discuss the case study that >> That you Yes. >> comes to mind. Yeah. Yeah. Um yes. I saw a patient recently a young female patient with a lot of skin issues. Skin issues that been going on and on. You know, nothing really conventional medicine doesn't really help. Different creams, try different creams. Didn't really help. Sometimes helps to lower the inflammation on the skin, but really doesn't resolve the issue. So she came to us. We did a comprehensive a lot panel. And I suggested to do to have a gut testing and functional medicine gut testing to look into gut dysbiosis, to look into inflammatory markers of uh gut and see what's going on inside of the gut. She agreed with that and it turned out to be that she had specific uh bacteria in the gut, overgrowth of that specific bacteria that was responsible for skin inflammation. So, once we put her on protocol and it was a 12-week protocol that targeted that specific um bacteria. Um so, we were able to reverse her dysbiosis, clean bad bacteria, um reinoculate, put probiotics back in, work on nutrition, lifestyle, and guess what? Her skin improved dramatically. >> Wow. Okay. >> Yeah, so that's >> That's awesome. >> Yeah. >> So, what would be the biggest takeaway for somebody who feels older than they should via inflammation? >> So, the biggest takeaway for someone who feels older than they should, um you know, feeling tired, achy, foggy, inflamed, slow to recover, is not something that something the person needs to ignore. This is not a process of just normal aging. Those symptoms are the the body is telling you something. The body is telling you that something is off balance, something is not really that something needs to be looked at. So, the biggest takeaway is not to ignore those symptoms, not to say that it's a part of aging and there's nothing can be done. There's a lot can be done to uh those symptoms, to help, and feel young forever young. >> Okay. Well, that was an amazing discussion. Let's go into the few questions that we have. >> Of course. >> Um let's start. How can we reduce the inflammation? >> How can we reduce inflammation? Well, again, what are we talking about? What kind of inflammation? What are the symptoms of inflammation? Uh like I um discussed before, there are so many symptoms of inflammation, and depending what are we targeting, there's different targeted treatment plans. >> Awesome. How do we balance the gut bacteria? >> Uh by checking what's what is in in in in balance, like what what is in dysbiosis, what are what what is a good bacteria, what kind of bad bacteria we have. By checking stool uh functional gut testing, we can tell, and then based on the results, we we treat. >> All right. Does inflammation cause sedimentary rate increase? >> Sed rate incre- again, depends on what kind of inflammation. Yes, sed rate can be increased depending on inflammation and what causes inflammation. >> Right. And I think this person wants to know about arthritis inflammation. Just a general >> Yeah, what's about you sure? What about arthritis inflammation? Yes, it is inflammation, yeah. >> Well, I think just a like a general >> Is arthritis is inflammation? >> Oh, or just what can that be like? What can that look like? How do we help it? I think just a general overview. >> So, arthritis uh you know, it's when someone experiencing a lot of joint pain, and as far as how can we help this patient? Again, you know, uh the treatment that we offer are very personalized. They based on, you know, deep understanding of that person, of the lifestyle, of everything what medication this person takes, supplements. And based on all this information, then we can, you know, recommend treatment plan. >> Awesome. Yeah. Well, it's not looking like we have any more questions. So, Sophia, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you so much for, you know, this great discussion. Your next podcast is what? On cortisol? I'm very excited about that one. Cortisol and stress. Um and yeah, is there anything else that you want to add? >> No, I'm so grateful to, you know, be here and thank you so much for, you know, allowing me to share my expertise and and looking forward for our next podcast. >> All right. Well, thank you so much and thank you everybody for joining. Bye. >> Bye.