A fascinating excursion into the medical history of germ/cellular/immunological research from the 2nd half of 19th century until today: the world of Koch, Metchnikoff, Pasteur, Ehrlich (coining the term “antibody”), Lister and Virchow and their grand departure from the prevailing four-humours theory.
Apart from a very obvious inflammation reaction to, say, germs or injury, the body can suffer from a more insiduous low-level chronic inflammation that seems to lead to all kinds of undesirable outcomes like heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
But you’ll have to persevere to chapter 7 to find out what ammunition you have to fight this “silent fire”.
“Maybe the overarching dilemma in inflammatory diseases involved not the ignition, the on switch, but a broken resolution, the off switch.”
In the 1990s a whole group of “pro-resolving mediator” substances were discovered that boost the recovery from an inflammation rather than damping down the inflammatory process itself. The process of recovery that had been postulated as passive before is very much a highly complex active one. It goes on to shine a light at the post-war food development in America with the advent of hydrogenated cotton seed oil, fast-food and the excess use of salt and sugar.
An utterly enthralling microscopic level whodunnit!