Inflammation. Disc Degeneration. There is a relationship.
Inflammation is the body’s response to harmful
stimuli (injury, pathogens, metabolic stress – a disc herniation pushing
on a nerve!) as it attempts to restore itself to normal
before the harm was achieved. Soft Health and Healing Clinic is always amazed at what the body can do!
Soft Health and Healing Clinic sees its Brooks chiropractic care as the body’s partner in healing especially
when there is spine pain. Chiropractic care utilizes
many tools like spinal manipulation, exercise, and nutrition to help
the body. Melatonin is one nutritional tool that is proving value
in its ability to interrupt the inflammatory process
related disc herniation that brings about pain relief: back, neck, spine-related.
DISC DEGENERATION AND INFLAMMATION AND 'AUTOPHAGY'
Inflammatory markers interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6
(IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are linked to intervertebral disc degeneration. (1) IL-1 β in fact promotes
itself, its own expression, by upregulating NLRP3 inflammasome activation. (2)
The body regulates itself down to its cellular level
via autophagy, the natural process during which the body’s
cells clear out damaged (ie, by inflammation) or unneeded parts. In
a recent study, melatonin increased autophagy
and lessened the degradation of the disc’s
extracellular matrix (technically marked by a decrease
in marker LC3B, autophagasomes and autolysosomes and inhibition of the NF-kB
signaling pathway). The final conclusion was that melatonin prevents
intervertebral disc degeneration by promoting autophagy. (3)
Wow. Soft Health and Healing Clinic is encouraged by this research to see just
how well melatonin can perform for Brooks back pain related
to disc degeneration.
MELATONIN AND ITS HEALING WAYS FOR THE DISC
Disc degeneration is a very common malady
seen at Soft Health and Healing Clinic that positive news of
melatonin’s benefits are quite rousing. A recent
study described that melatonin could modify
the extracellular matrix of the disc remodeling process started
by IL-1 β. Additionally, melatonin decreased the
inflammatory cell collection and reduced the release of linked
inflammatory markers IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. With this new discovery
that melatonin interrupted the IL-1B feedback loop, researchers
proposed that melatonin may provide
the healing process of intervertebral discs after damage has already been done. (1) Soft Health and Healing Clinic continues
following the new research on the role inflammation plays
in Brooks disc degeneration and melatonin’s role in tackling
it.
INFLAMMATION AND MELATONIN
The significance of melatonin in helping
to slow or stop painful conditions due to inflammation is rising.
The description of melatonin as a multitasking molecule affecting
mood, immunity, and energy among other mechanisms is quite fitting.
It’s also anti-oxidant, anti-aging, and anti-inflammatory, specifically
by hindering the activation of inflammasomes (4) Melatonin’s
formal chemical name is as about as long as its list of tasks: N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine.
The pineal gland secretes melatonin naturally. Melatonin impacts
the body’s aging, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptosis (cell death), and autophagy
(cell-cleanout) activities. (1) Melatonin’s specific influence on
inflammation and disc degeneration is most interesting
to Soft Health and Healing Clinic and our Brooks back pain patients.
CONTACT Soft Health and Healing Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Hrefna Sylvia based in Iceland where back pain isn’t much different
from any other country on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr.
Michael Johnson as she describes how The Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management handles disc
degeneration for relief of chronic low back pain in her patient.
Schedule your Brooks chiropractic appointment with
Soft Health and Healing Clinic now. We can talk about the role
inflammation plays in your back pain experience and how melatonin may help with the related disc
degeneration.