Figuring Out Why

 So many times we just take what doctors tell us without questioning.  Or, when we do question, we just accept their answer as gold.  While, I really don't believe that doctors would intentionally lead us astray.  However, I am the best advocate for my kids and myself.  I've always just had to read books, articles, find doctors, and push, push, push for my kids and my husband.  This time - it's all about me.  

I am just trying to figure out how some one in the mid-forties gets a cancer that doesn't usually hit some one until their sixties or seventies.   I don't fit any of the kidney cancer criteria.  Is there any connection to my other diagnosis?  What the heck is going on in my gut area??  

I know that I can't fully prevent cancer.  One mutated cell going crazy and multiplying is all that it takes.  There have been plenty of health nuts that have gotten cancer.  Marathon runners. Professional athletes. Vegans.  Keto. You can just go through the categories and cancer has touched everyone.  (thankful - because a marathon runner I will never be!!)  But there has to be something that I can do to heal what ever is going on inside me.  That is where my digging began.  I'm just going to explain the top layer of all of the science.  Honestly I start reading some of the medical studies and it goes over my head pretty quickly.  So I will stick to the basics!  :) 

The word that just kept popping up book after book was inflammation.  Acute Inflammation by itself is a good thing.  It is a natural defense in the body.  It helps to heal and repair damaged tissue.  It helps to fight infections. It kills germs. However, as amazing as the human body is -- Chronic Inflammation is when your body keeps sending those cells even when there is no danger.  Those cells end up damaging your body instead of healing.  Chronic inflammation can damage DNA and affect cell growth which can lead to tumors.  

But it isn't just connected to cancer.  Chronic Inflammation can cause plaque buildup which leads to heart disease.  It also damages arteries that supply blood to the heart. The American Heart Association acknowledges how inflammation can play a part in heart disease.  Rheumatoid Arthritis is caused by inflammation.  It's not the wear and tear of a joint.  I was diagnosed with arthritis in my hands when I was 28.  Recently my CT scan showed arthritis throughout my body. This isn't wear and tear.  It's inflammation.  I wish my doctor would have talked to me about it when I was 28, so I could try to heal my body the past 20 years.  Chronic Inflammation is also connected to Type 2 Diabetes, which I have.  It can disrupt insult signaling pathways which effect glucose metabolism.  It can also lead to weight gain which is connected to Type 2 Diabetes.  Brain inflammation is a large factor in Alzheimer's Disease.  It is connected to beta plaque production which is a characteristic of Alzheimer's Disease.  Having a mother with dementia this makes this more real. I am not wanting my final years to be in the fog of dementia.

If Inflammation is connected to so diseases -- why don't the doctors talk about it?  They cannot without a doubt confirm that inflammation is causing your disease.  Research can connect it to all of those diseases and many others.  But as for your specific disease - There is not a way a doctor can say that inflammation caused it.  I do wish I would have know when I was 28 that inflammation could contribute to it.   So for me, I am going to look into an anti-inflammatory diet to try and heal some of the damage that has happened through the years.  It definitely cannot hurt. I changed my diet last year after my diabetic diagnosis.  Let's see what else I can heal from the inside.