Study Compares Industrialised Indigenous Groups Finds Inflammation Not Always Linked With Ageing

Inflammation may not always be related to ageing and appears to be a consequence of industrialised life styles, researchers said, after they found high levels of inflammation in two indigenous populations, which neither increased with age nor led to chronic conditions.

- Press Trust of India

The findings, published in the journal Nature Aging, challenge current notions around persistent inflammation related to ageing or “inflammaging", the authors said.

“These results point to an evolutionary mismatch between our immune systems and the environments we now live in. Inflammaging may not be a direct product of ageing, but rather a response to industrialised conditions," lead author Alan Cohen, associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, US, said.

They added that a holistic approach, looking at culture, environment and lifestyle factors, needs to be taken while studying ageing processes.

“In industrialised settings, we see clear links between inflammaging and diseases like chronic kidney disease,” Cohen said.