August 5, 2023

Inflammation is caused by cytokine signal molecules which create hyper-active tissue response designed to get rid of some problem. Inflammation is supposed to be a short-term method of getting rid of some problem. But it often becomes more than that, which damages tissues.

As always, the solution is to treat the symptoms without knowing the cause. The only real solution of any problem is to correct the cause rather than the result.

The reason why scientists do not know the cause of a lot of things is because they study by looking through a straw. They are so wrapped up in details that they ignore related subjects. To evaluate complexities, the surrounding subjects have to be considered. Scientists almost never do that.

Too evaluate health problems, evolution physiology must be understood. That subject explains the context needed for understanding the complexities of health.

The subject of inflammation must start with the nature of biological signal molecules. There are thousands of signal molecules in biological systems. How the signal molecules work is ignored or not understood in treating symptoms. Usually, various details are known somewhere but are not put together in any one place, because scientists do not study surrounding subjects well enough to know the details that have been determined someplace else.

Biological signal molecules are supposed to disappear rapidly after they cause some effect. They are not supposed to sit around afterwards. That means white blood cells must break down the signal molecules as fast as they are used.

The net result is that the excessive inflammation that causes a lot of health problems would often be due to the signal molecules not being broken down after causing their effects. And the reason why is because the white blood cells get overwhelmed and cannot do what they are supposed to do.

The number one factor that overwhelms the white blood cells which are supposed to break down unwanted substances is that they don't have enough zinc to do so.

In more primitive species, such as the monkeys that humans evolved from, there was almost no zinc in their plant-based diets. When the Great Apes encountered more zinc in their carnivorous diets, it strengthened their immune systems so effectively that it lengthened their life span resulting in human evolution. It was increased zinc that allowed humans to evolve.

But there is often very little zinc in the human diet, particularly with the amount of processed food that people eat now days. Red meat is just about the only source of zinc in the human diet, while a lot of persons don't eat much red meat; and recently, bureaucratic nutritionists have been telling people to eat less red meat. On top of that, greens are trying to get people to eat less meat for some reason that only they know.

So if people are not getting enough zinc in their diets, their white blood cells cannot break down unwanted signal molecules adequately. Zinc is a catalytic oxidizing agent used by white blood cells to break down unwanted chemicals.

The monkeys had so little zinc in their herbivore diets that they had to use superoxide to break down unwanted chemicals. Superoxide is difficult to synthesize and store. So it runs out just when it is needed most. That problem kept monkeys from living more than a few years, before diseases overwhelmed them. So zinc replaced the need for superoxide in humans, though a small amount of superoxide continues to be used by humans.

Therefore, if inflammation is out of hand, one of the likely causes would be a shortage of zinc needed to turn off the signal molecules that cause inflammation to occur. But never is zinc mentioned in relation to those subjects. It means the scientists have never given a thought to the problem of zinc being needed to get rid of the excessive signal molecules causing excessive inflammation.