MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Tasnime Akbaraly PhD
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
Montpellier, France
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Akbaraly: The aim of this study was to examine the association between chronic inflammation and a range of aging phenotypes, assessed approximately 10 years later in a large British population of men and women -The Whitehall II Study-. As inflammation characterises a wide range of pathological processes, we considered several aging phenotypes, including cardiovascular disease (fatal and non-fatal), non-cardiovascular mortality and successful aging which encompasses optimal functioning across different physical, mental, and cognitive domains
We found that chronic inflammation characterized by high levels of interleukin-6 (>2 pg/mL) twice over the 5-year exposure period nearly halved the odds of successful aging after 10–years of follow-up compared to maintaining low levels of interleukin-6 (<1pg/mL twice over the exposure period).
Chronic inflammation was also associated with increased odds of future cardiovascular disease and non-cardiovascular mortality in a dose-response fashion. These associations were found to be independent of socio-economic factors, health behaviours (smoking, physical activity), and conditions such as obesity as well as the use of anti-inflammatory drugs and acute inflammation.
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