Chiropractic Rehabilitation Benefits for Systemic Inflammation

Systemic inflammation and chiropractic rehabilitation can work together to effectively enhance wellness and reduce discomfort.

Abstract

Hello, I’m Dr. Alex Jimenez. As a Doctor of Chiropractic, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, and a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with certifications in functional medicine, I have dedicated my career to understanding the root causes of chronic illness. In this educational post, we will embark on a journey deep into the body’s inflammatory processes, exploring how a persistent, low-grade state of inflammation—often called “inflammaging”—has become the central, unifying mechanism behind many of the chronic diseases plaguing modern society. We will examine the pivotal role of immune cells, particularly macrophages, and how they can shift from healers to destroyers. Drawing on the latest evidence-based research from leading scientific journals, we will discuss how this single upstream problem can manifest as a multitude of downstream symptoms, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, dementia, and even cancer. We will explore the concept of neuroinflammation, showing how conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and depression are not separate diseases but different manifestations of the same inflammatory issue within the brain. We will also explore the thymus gland’s critical role in orchestrating immune tolerance and how its dysfunction can lead to what is commonly mislabeled as “autoimmune” disease. Finally, we will connect these complex biological concepts to our clinical approach at Injury Medical Clinic, explaining how our integrative team—including the vital medical oversight of our Medical Director, Dr. Maria Guadalupe Cardenas, MD—utilizes a multifaceted strategy that combines functional medicine, targeted nutrition, lifestyle modification, and specialized chiropractic care to address systemic inflammation at its core. This post aims to empower you with knowledge, moving beyond symptom management to understand and address the fundamental dysregulation that underlies chronic disease.

My Journey into Integrative and Functional Medicine

Throughout my years in practice, both as a Doctor of Chiropractic and later as an Advanced Practice Nurse and Family Nurse Practitioner, I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of patients. My journey has taken me through various disciplines, from personal injury and rehabilitation to advanced functional and integrative medicine, reflected in my credentials (DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP, ATN, CCST). This diverse background has given me a unique vantage point, allowing me to see the intricate connections between the body’s structure, biochemistry, and overall function.

A recurring theme I have observed in my clinical practice is the prevalence of patients presenting with a complex web of seemingly unrelated symptoms. They come to me with chronic pain, fatigue, brain fog, digestive issues, metabolic problems, and mood disorders, often after having seen multiple specialists who have treated each symptom as an isolated problem. This fragmented approach rarely leads to lasting wellness because it fails to address the underlying driver of their illness. This is what led me to dedicate my work to functional medicine—a paradigm that seeks to understand the “why” behind the “what.”

My clinical observations, available through my work at PUSH-as-Rx and my professional profile, consistently point to one central culprit: chronic systemic inflammation. It’s the silent fire within that, if left unchecked, can burn down the very foundations of our health.

Our Multidisciplinary Approach at Injury Medical Clinic

To effectively combat such a complex issue, a single-modality approach is insufficient. Recognizing this, we have built a collaborative, multidisciplinary practice at Injury Medical Clinic PA (also known as Mission Plaza Injury Medical Clinic) here in El Paso, Texas. Our model is built on synergy across healthcare disciplines, all working toward a common goal.

I am honored to work alongside Dr. Maria Guadalupe Cardenas, MD, our Medical Director and Collaborative Physician. Dr. Cardenas is a highly respected, board-certified Internist with over four decades of invaluable experience. Her NPI is #1164426749, and she holds Texas MD License #J2933. Her profound understanding of internal medicine provides the essential medical oversight and diagnostic rigor that grounds our integrative protocols. This collaboration between a Doctor of Chiropractic (myself) and a Medical Doctor is a cornerstone of modern integrative care, ensuring our patients receive a comprehensive and safe treatment plan that blends the best of conventional and functional approaches.

Our team integrates:

• Medical Oversight (Dr. Cardenas): Providing diagnostic evaluation, medical management, and ensuring all treatments adhere to the highest standards of care.
• Chiropractic Care (Dr. Jimenez): Focusing on musculoskeletal integrity, nervous system function, and the structural component of health, which is deeply intertwined with inflammatory pathways.
• Functional Medicine: Investigating the root causes of disease through advanced testing and personalized interventions targeting nutrition, lifestyle, and biochemical imbalances.
• Rehabilitation and Personal Injury Care: Restoring function and mobility after injury, a process that is heavily influenced by the body’s inflammatory response.

This integrated framework allows us to view the patient as a whole, interconnected system rather than a collection of disparate symptoms. We don’t just ask “What is the disease?” but “Why has this person lost their health, and how can we restore it?”

Systemic Inflammation: When the Body’s Fire Alarm Never Shuts Off

To understand the health challenges we face today, we must first understand inflammation. In its acute form, inflammation is a life-saving process. When you get a cut or an infection, your immune system mounts a rapid, powerful, and localized response. It’s the biological equivalent of a fire department rushing to an emergency. Specialized immune cells are dispatched to neutralize the threat, clear out damaged tissue, and initiate repairs. Once the job is done, the alarm is turned off, the “firefighters” go home, and the “rebuilders” come in to restore order. This is a healthy, self-limiting cycle.

Systemic inflammation, however, is a different beast entirely. It’s what happens when the immune system’s fire alarm gets stuck in the “on” position. It’s not a roaring, localized fire but a low-grade, smoldering burn that spreads throughout the entire body—in every tissue and every organ, all at the same time. This chronic activation of the immune system isn’t healing; it’s destructive. It’s a state where the very system designed to protect you becomes the primary agent of your body’s decline.

The Central Role of Macrophages: Healers or Destroyers?

At the heart of this inflammatory process are macrophages, the “big eaters” of the innate immune system. These are some of the most fascinating and powerful cells in our biology. Think of them as the front-line soldiers and first responders. They are not just simple cleanup cells; they are highly intelligent and adaptable, capable of changing their function in response to signals from their environment. This ability to change their identity is known as polarization.

Macrophages exist on a functional spectrum. To simplify this complex biology, we often talk about two primary, opposing phenotypes:

• M1 Macrophages (The “Warriors” ): These are the pro-inflammatory macrophages. When your body detects a threat like a virus, bacteria, or a damaged cell, macrophages shift into M1 mode. They become aggressive defenders, producing a cocktail of powerful inflammatory molecules called cytokines. Key players in this arsenal include Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). They also generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), or free radicals, which are highly reactive molecules that can destroy pathogens. The M1 motto is essentially “burn it all down.” This scorched-earth approach is effective and necessary for clearing acute threats, but it causes significant collateral damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
• M2 Macrophages (The “Healers” ): Once the threat is neutralized, macrophages are supposed to switch gears. They polarize toward the M2 phenotype, which is anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving. These M2 cells produce a different set of signaling molecules, such as Interleukin-10 (IL-10) and Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGF-β). Their job is to calm the storm, suppress inflammation, and orchestrate healing. They produce enzymes like arginase-1 that promote tissue regeneration. They act as the cleanup crew, clearing away cellular debris and dead cells left over from the battle. The M2 motto is “clean it all up and rebuild.”

The health of our entire body depends on the delicate balance between these two macrophage states and the smooth transition from the M1 “warrior” phase to the M2 “healer” phase. This completes the natural inflammatory cycle.

The Danger of a Stuck M1 State

In chronic systemic inflammation, this transition fails. For a variety of reasons—persistent low-grade infections, poor diet, chronic stress, environmental toxins, visceral adiposity—the macrophages get stuck in the M1 pro-inflammatory mode. They never receive the signal to stand down and shift to M2 repair mode.

As a result, they continuously pump pro-inflammatory cytokines like TNF-α and IL-6 into your bloodstream. These aren’t just localized signals anymore; they circulate throughout your entire body, activating other immune cells and creating a self-perpetuating, vicious cycle of inflammation. This is the biological reality of systemic inflammation: your body is running almost entirely on the destructive M1 side of the equation, not just in one isolated tissue, but in every tissue simultaneously. Your fat tissue (adipose), your liver, your kidneys, the delicate lining of your blood vessels (endothelium), and most frighteningly, your brain—all are bathed in this inflammatory soup.

The gravity of this situation cannot be overstated. A landmark 2022 study published in The Lancet provided stark evidence of this danger. The researchers demonstrated that elevated levels of IL-6 and TNF-α are independent predictors of all-cause mortality. The hazard ratios associated with these inflammatory markers were comparable to the risk of smoking. Let that sink in for a moment. Having chronically elevated inflammatory markers is as dangerous to your long-term health as being a regular smoker. This isn’t a minor biochemical imbalance; it’s a fundamental threat to your lifespan and healthspan.

Inflammaging: The Unifying Theory of Chronic Disease

For decades, medicine has operated under a model of specialization where different chronic diseases were seen as distinct entities with unique causes. Type 2 diabetes was a blood sugar disease, managed by endocrinologists. Cardiovascular disease was a plumbing problem of the heart and arteries, managed by cardiologists. Dementia was a neurological issue, managed by neurologists. We developed different drugs and treatments for each condition, focusing on managing the downstream symptoms.

However, a revolutionary shift in our understanding is taking place. A wealth of modern research now points to a single, unifying mechanism that underlies nearly all of these age-related chronic diseases: chronic, low-grade, systemic inflammation, a process now widely known as “inflammaging.”

A pivotal 2023 review in Nature Medicine elegantly summarized this concept. The authors compiled overwhelming evidence to show that inflammaging is the common soil from which the major chronic diseases of our time grow.

This is why systemic inflammation doesn’t just give you one problem; it gives you every problem at once. It’s the same core pathological process—a dysregulated immune system led by rogue M1 macrophages—running the same destructive program in different organs.

• In your pancreas and fat cells, it causes insulin resistance, leading to type 2 diabetes.
• In the lining of your blood vessels, it promotes plaque formation, leading to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.
• In your joints, it degrades cartilage, leading to osteoarthritis.
• In your DNA, the chronic oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling can promote mutations that lead to cancer.
• In your brain, it drives neurodegeneration, leading to dementia and mood disorders.

The profound implication of this discovery is that if we can fix systemic inflammation, we are not just managing symptoms. We are addressing the root cause of essentially every major chronic disease that threatens our lives, all at the same time. It’s a paradigm shift from playing whack-a-mole with symptoms to turning off the machine that’s producing them in the first place.

The Inflamed Brain: Neuroinflammation and its Consequences

Nowhere are the consequences of systemic inflammation more devastating than in the brain. For a long time, the brain was considered “immune-privileged,” protected by the blood-brain barrier and separate from the body’s immune chaos. We now know this is dangerously false. The brain has its own resident immune system, and it is exquisitely sensitive to inflammatory signals from the body.

Microglia: The Brain’s Own Macrophages

The brain’s primary immune cells are called microglia. Think of them as the brain’s specialized, resident macrophages. Just like their counterparts in the body, microglia exist on a spectrum of activation states. In a healthy state, they are in a resting, surveillance mode. They prune synapses, clear out cellular debris, and support neuronal health. They are the brain’s diligent housekeepers.

However, when microglia are activated by inflammatory signals—either from an injury within the brain or, more commonly, from systemic inflammation circulating in the blood—they undergo a dramatic transformation. They shift into a chronic M1-like activated state, and in this state, they become arguably the most destructive force inside your skull.

Once activated, these pro-inflammatory microglia begin spewing out the same toxic cocktail as M1 macrophages: inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). This neuroinflammatory environment wreaks havoc on the brain’s delicate architecture.

• Synaptic Destruction: The cytokines and ROS directly damage synapses, the crucial connections between neurons where communication happens. This synaptic pruning gone wrong is a hallmark of cognitive decline. Your brain’s communication network starts to break down.
• Shutdown of Neurogenesis: Chronic inflammation suppresses the production of a critical protein called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). BDNF is often called the “Miracle-Gro” for the brain. It’s a growth hormone for your neurons, essential for learning, memory, and neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to rewire itself. When BDNF levels plummet, your brain’s capacity for repair and adaptation grinds to a halt.
• Excitotoxicity: Inflammatory cytokines can also lead to an over-release of the neurotransmitter glutamate, causing a state of excitotoxicity where neurons are literally excited to death.
• Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability: The inflammation itself can damage the tight junctions of the blood-brain barrier, making it more permeable. This “leaky brain” allows even more inflammatory molecules and other harmful substances from the bloodstream to enter the brain, creating a vicious, self-amplifying cycle of neuroinflammation.

Neuroinflammation: The Common Root of Brain Disorders

From this understanding, a powerful new perspective on brain health emerges. Conditions that we have long treated as separate diseases with distinct causes are, in reality, different manifestations of the same underlying problem: chronic neuroinflammation. The specific symptoms you experience depend on which brain region is most affected.

• Alzheimer’s Disease: Characterized by amyloid plaques and tau tangles, we now understand that these are downstream consequences and potential amplifiers of a primary neuroinflammatory process. The microglia in an Alzheimer’s brain are stuck in a chronic M1 state, driving the neuronal damage.
• Parkinson’s Disease: While it involves the loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra, this cell death is driven by intense, localized neuroinflammation.
• Dementia: A general term for cognitive decline, dementia is fundamentally a symptom of widespread synaptic loss and neuronal death caused by chronic inflammation.
• Depression and Anxiety: Once thought to be purely a “chemical imbalance,” we now have overwhelming evidence linking major depressive disorder to elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines. The inflammation affects neurotransmitter production, HPA axis function, and brain regions involved in mood regulation. This is why a common side effect of inflammatory therapies (like interferon for hepatitis C) is severe depression.
• Brain Fog: That feeling of mental slowness, difficulty concentrating, and poor memory is a direct clinical symptom of neuroinflammation interfering with synaptic function and neuronal energy production.

They are not separate brain diseases. They are the same core neuroinflammatory issue presenting with different clinical symptoms based on the “real estate” of the brain that is being damaged. That’s it. This understanding is critical because it means that strategies to reduce systemic and neuroinflammation are foundational for protecting and restoring brain health, regardless of the specific diagnosis.

Unlocking the Secrets of Inflammation: Integrative Medicine Approach- Video

The Role of Chiropractic Care in Modulating Inflammation

At this point, you might be wondering, “This is fascinating biochemistry, but where does chiropractic care fit in?” The connection is more direct and profound than many realize. As a Doctor of Chiropractic, my primary focus is on the integrity and function of the neuromusculoskeletal system. Chiropractic adjustments, or spinal manipulative therapy (SMT), are not just about “cracking backs” to relieve pain. They are a powerful neurological intervention that can have systemic effects on the body, including modulating inflammation.

The spine is not just a stack of bones; it is the central conduit for the nervous system, the body’s master control system, including the immune system. Neuroimmunology and osteoimmunology have illuminated the intricate, bidirectional communication between the nervous, skeletal, and immune systems.

How Chiropractic Adjustments Influence Inflammatory Pathways

When there is a biomechanical dysfunction in the spine—what we call a vertebral subluxation complex—it involves more than just a misaligned bone. It involves aberrant joint motion, muscle tension, and, most importantly, irritated nerve tissue. This chronic physical stress and nerve irritation can act as a persistent danger signal to the body, contributing to a pro-inflammatory state.

Here’s how targeted chiropractic adjustments can help break this cycle:

1. Mechanoreceptor Stimulation and Pain Gating: A chiropractic adjustment imparts a specific, high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust into a restricted joint. This powerfully stimulates a class of nerve endings called mechanoreceptors. The flood of input from these mechanoreceptors to the spinal cord and brain inhibits pain-transmitting nerve fibers (nociceptors). This is known as the “Gate Control Theory of Pain.” By reducing nociceptive input, we reduce a major source of pro-inflammatory signaling.
2. Downregulation of Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines: Research has begun to quantify the biochemical effects of SMT. Studies have shown that chiropractic adjustments can lead to a measurable decrease in circulating levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines like TNF-α and IL-6. At the same time, anti-inflammatory mediators may increase. This suggests that neurological input from an adjustment can directly influence the body’s biochemical milieu, helping shift the balance away from the M1 state and toward the M2 resolving state.
3. Improving Autonomic Nervous System Balance: The autonomic nervous system (ANS) has two main branches: the “fight-or-flight” sympathetic system and the “rest-and-digest” parasympathetic system. Chronic stress—emotional, chemical, or physical (like a subluxation)—pushes the body into sympathetic dominance. The sympathetic nervous system is inherently pro-inflammatory. The parasympathetic system, primarily via the vagus nerve, exerts a powerful anti-inflammatory effect through a pathway known as the “cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway.” Chiropractic adjustments, particularly to the upper cervical and sacral regions where parasympathetic nerves are concentrated, have been shown to improve heart rate variability (HRV), a key marker of autonomic balance. By reducing sympathetic tone and enhancing parasympathetic activity, we can help the body naturally turn down the dial on systemic inflammation.
4. Restoring Proper Biomechanics and Reducing Mechanical Stress: Chronic poor posture, joint restrictions, and muscle imbalances create constant mechanical stress on tissues. This sustained strain can lead to localized inflammation, which then contributes to the overall systemic inflammatory load. By restoring proper joint motion and improving posture, chiropractic care reduces this source of mechanical irritation, allowing tissues to heal and inflammation to subside.

In our clinic, chiropractic care is never performed in a vacuum. It is a critical component of our integrated strategy. By addressing the structural and neurological contributors to inflammation, we create a more favorable environment for the functional medicine and nutritional interventions, guided by Dr. Cardenas and me, to work effectively. We calm the nervous system, reduce pain signals, and directly influence the biochemical pathways that drive inflammation, all while building a foundation of structural integrity.

The Thymus Gland: The Immune System’s Quality Control Center

To fully grasp how the immune system can go so wrong, we must look further upstream to one of the most important, yet often overlooked, organs of the immune system: the thymus gland. Located behind your sternum, the thymus is the master educator of a critical class of immune cells called T cells.

T cells are the special forces of the adaptive immune system. They orchestrate a highly specific attack against pathogens while maintaining tolerance to our own tissues. The thymus is the “boot camp” or university where these T cells are trained. This education process is incredibly rigorous and involves two key steps:

• Positive Selection: T cells are tested to ensure they can recognize the body’s own “self” markers (MHC molecules). If they can’t, they are useless and are eliminated.
• Negative Selection: This crucial step prevents autoimmunity. The T cells that passed positive selection are then tested to see if they react too strongly to the body’s own proteins. If a T cell shows the potential to attack “self” tissue, it is destroyed. Only the T cells that can recognize pathogens but do not attack self are allowed to “graduate” and enter circulation.

Another vital cell type that matures in the thymus is the Regulatory T cell (Treg). These are the “peacekeepers” of the immune system. Their primary job is to suppress excessive immune reactions and maintain self-tolerance. They are essential for turning off the M1 response and promoting the M2 healing phase.

Thymic Dysfunction: The Root of “Immune Misdirection”

When the thymus doesn’t function properly, this intricate selection and training process fails. This can happen due to age-related shrinking of the thymus (thymic involution), chronic stress (which releases cortisol, a potent suppressor of thymic function), nutritional deficiencies, or environmental toxins.

When thymic signaling fails, the negative selection process becomes sloppy. T cells that should have been eliminated—T cells that are reactive to our own body’s tissues—are allowed to graduate and circulate. These rogue T cells then go out into the body and can attack whatever tissue they were programmed to recognize.

• If they attack the joints, you get rheumatoid arthritis.
• If they attack the thyroid gland, you get Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
• If they attack the myelin sheath of nerves, you get multiple sclerosis.
• If they attack the body’s own DNA, you get lupus.

This is why the term “autoimmune disease” is, in a way, a misnomer. It implies the immune system is intelligently attacking itself for no reason. A more accurate term is “immune misdirection.” The system has lost its ability to distinguish self from non-self because of a failure in its upstream education and regulation. Autoimmunity is not possible in a well-regulated system. It is a consequence of dysregulation.

The downstream consequences of this failure are what we spend hundreds of billions of dollars on every year. Medications like statins for cholesterol (inflammation in the arteries), metformin for blood sugar (inflammation driving insulin resistance), SSRIs for depression (neuroinflammation), and powerful biologics (which block single cytokines like TNF-α) are all sold as solutions to different symptoms of the same fundamental problem: a dysregulated immune system driven by chronic inflammation.

Thymosin Alpha-1: Restoring Immune Regulation

This is where advanced functional medicine interventions can be transformative. One of the most promising areas of research involves bioregulatory peptides. A key peptide in this context is Thymosin Alpha-1. The thymus gland itself produces this naturally occurring peptide. It acts as a master regulator of the immune system.

Administering Thymosin Alpha-1 is not about boosting or suppressing the immune system; it’s about re-regulating it. It goes upstream to fix the broken control circuitry.

• It helps restore proper thymic function, improving T cell education.
• It promotes the development and function of Tregs, the regulatory cells that are crucial for shutting down inappropriate immune responses.
• It helps to rebalance the macrophage population, encouraging the shift from the destructive M1 phenotype to the reparative M2 phenotype.

By restoring this regulatory circuitry, Thymosin Alpha-1 helps to shut down the self-perpetuating inflammatory loop that is killing your biology. It addresses the root cause of the immune misdirection, rather than just blocking one of its downstream effects.

The Path to Healing: A Unified Approach

The journey out of chronic disease is not about finding the right pill for each illness. It’s about recognizing the truth of your biology: You don’t have ten different diseases; you have one dysregulated biology that is producing ten different symptoms.

The key to lasting health is to fix the regulation. When you fix the regulation, you can begin to fix everything.

At Injury Medical Clinic, this principle underpins every treatment plan we create. Under the collaborative guidance of Dr. Cardenas and me, we develop a personalized, multi-pronged strategy to quench the flames of systemic inflammation and restore biological regulation. Our approach includes:

• Comprehensive Diagnostics: We start with a deep dive into your health history, followed by advanced functional testing. We don’t just look at standard markers; we measure inflammatory cytokines (hs-CRP, IL-6, TNF-α), markers of oxidative stress, gut health (as a leaky gut is a major driver of inflammation), nutrient status, and hormonal balance. This gives us a complete picture of where the dysregulation is occurring.
• Targeted Nutritional Therapy: Food is information for your genes and your immune system. We design personalized anti-inflammatory eating plans, rich in phytonutrients, healthy fats, and clean proteins, while eliminating inflammatory triggers like processed foods, sugar, and industrial seed oils.
• Integrative Chiropractic Care: As detailed earlier, we use specific chiropractic adjustments to restore neurological balance, reduce pain signals, and directly modulate inflammatory pathways. This addresses the structural and neurological components of inflammation.
• Lifestyle and Stress Management: We provide coaching on stress reduction techniques (like mindfulness and breathwork), sleep hygiene, and appropriate exercise. Managing cortisol and activating the parasympathetic nervous system are non-negotiable for controlling inflammation.
• Advanced Supplementation and Bioregulators: Based on your unique biochemistry, we may use targeted supplements like curcumin, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants. In specific cases, and under strict medical supervision, we may explore advanced interventions like peptide therapies to help re-regulate the immune system at a fundamental level.

This is not a quick fix. It is a systematic process of removing the factors that promote inflammation and providing the body with the raw materials it needs. It signals that the body needs to return to balance and healing. It’s about working with your biology, not against it. By addressing the upstream cause—the dysregulated inflammatory response—we see the downstream symptoms begin to resolve, often simultaneously. We witness patients whose joint pain, brain fog, metabolic issues, and fatigue all start to improve together, because they all stemmed from the same fire.

My commitment, and the commitment of our entire team, is to guide you on this journey from symptom management to true health restoration. Thank you for joining me as we explore these vital concepts.

References

• Furman, D., Campisi, J., Verdin, E., Carrera-Bastos, P., Targ S., Franceschi, C., … & Slavich, G. M. (2019). Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. Nature Medicine, 25(12), 1822–1832. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31806905/
• Giovannini, S., Onder, G., Liperoti, R., Russo, A., Carter, C., Capoluongo, E., Pahor, M., Bernabei, R., & Landi, F. (2011). Interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha as predictors of mortality in frail, community-living elderly individuals. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59(9), 1679–1685. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03570.x
• Stephenson, J., Nutma, E., van der Valk, P., & Amor, S. (2018). Inflammation in CNS neurodegenerative diseases. Immunology, 154(2), 204–219. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5980185/
• Roy, R. A., Boucher, J. P., & Comtois, A. S. (2010). Inflammatory response following a short-term course of chiropractic treatment in subjects with and without chronic low back pain. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 9(3), 107–114. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3188345/
• Palmer, D. B. (2018). The effect of age on thymic function. Frontiers in Immunology, 9, 2460. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24109481/
• Dominari, A., Hathaway, D., 3rd, & Pandav, K. (2020). Thymosin alpha 1: A comprehensive review of the literature. World Journal of Virology, 9(5), 67–78. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7747025/
• Tracey, K. J. (2002). The inflammatory reflex. Nature, 420(6917), 853–859. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12490958/

Disclaimer: The information in this post is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. The content reflects the perspective and clinical approach of Dr. Alex Jimenez and his team, based on their training, experience, and interpretation of the current scientific literature. Specific therapies, such as peptide therapy, require a thorough evaluation and prescription from a qualified healthcare provider. Always consult with a qualified medical professional before making any decisions about your health or treatment.

 

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