Patients with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and chronic pain are common. Over the past few years, more and more young people are presenting with fatigue and aches and pains. There has also been a nationwide campaign to alert clinical staff to the signs of sepsis in all ages. Sepsis is infection that is in the blood stream. If not treated promptly, it can overwhelm the body leading to septic shock and death. What have aches and pains and fatigue got to do with sepsis?
Poor gut health is linked to poor immunity. This is because the gut microbes, working with the gut lining cells, are one of the main controllers of inflammation. Inflammation and immunity are two sides of the same coin and chronic inflammation has been shown to be the cause of almost all chronic disease. We succumb to viruses and bacteria when we have poor immunity. Good gut health requires that we have more ‘good’ microbes than ‘bad’ in our gut. When this doesn’t happen our gut lining cells become ‘sick’ and porous. Another word for this is gut dysbiosis or ‘leaky gut’. The leaky gut and inflammation damage the immune system. This means that the gut allows infections to pass through into the body and the poor immune system fails to deal with these infections.
People with chronic aches and pains and fibromyalgia also seem to have ‘leaky gut’. In some of these people, blood tests show signs of chronic silent infections.
Why do so many of us have ‘leaky gut’? The answer to this question seems to be another question. What is harming the gut microbes? A deep dive into the research literature reveals the following categories can do harm to our gut microbes
- Environmental and food borne toxins
- Refined Sugars
Once these categories are addressed, the invading microbes become less of an issue and many patients find relief from chronic pain and fatigue.
A poor immune system, above, is linked to poor gut health. Many who end up in the intensive care departments are those with underlying medical conditions. The most common of these medical conditions are diabetes, high blood pressure and being overweight. These are generally known as metabolic conditions. Research clearly shows that these metabolic conditions are linked to chronic low-grade inflammation and gut dysbiosis. Chronic inflammation will have a knock-on effect causing poor immunity.
Dr Ese Stacey MBBS DCH DRCOG MRCGP MSc Sports Med LF Hom FFSEM
Sport and Exercise Medicine Consultant
Blackberry Clinic, Brighton
