The term inflammaging, a portmanteau of inflammation and ageing coined by longevity researcher Claudio Franceschi, describes the chronic, low-grade systemic inflammation that reliably accompanies biological ageing and drives the development and progression of virtually every major age-related disease. Understanding inflammaging as a unifying mechanism of ageing illuminates why addressing chronic inflammation has such broad health consequences.
The Conditions Driven by Chronic Inflammation
- Cardiovascular disease: atherosclerotic plaques are fundamentally inflammatory lesions. CRP, an inflammatory marker, predicts cardiovascular events independently of LDL cholesterol
- Type 2 diabetes: pro-inflammatory cytokines from visceral fat directly impair insulin receptor signalling
- Alzheimer's disease: neuroinflammation is a central feature of Alzheimer's pathology, and systemic inflammation appears to contribute to amyloid accumulation
- Cancer: chronic inflammation creates a tissue microenvironment that promotes carcinogenesis, tumour growth, and metastasis
- Osteoarthritis: once thought to be a purely mechanical wear-and-tear disease, is now understood to have a significant inflammatory component driving cartilage degradation
The Sources of Chronic Inflammation
- Visceral adiposity: the most common and most addressable source of chronic systemic inflammation in adults
- Gut dysbiosis: a disrupted gut microbiome increases intestinal permeability and drives endotoxin translocation
- Sleep deprivation: even acute sleep restriction produces significant elevations in inflammatory cytokines
- Psychological stress: HPA axis activation and sympathetic nervous system dysregulation both promote inflammatory gene expression
- Ultra-processed diet: drives inflammation through multiple mechanisms including gut dysbiosis, advanced glycation end-products, and oxidative stress
The Comprehensive Anti-Inflammatory Approach
Because multiple sources of inflammation operate simultaneously, the most effective approach addresses all of them in parallel. Exercise, sleep, dietary quality, stress management, and gut health each contribute meaningfully. Addressing one while ignoring others produces partial benefit. Addressing all simultaneously produces a synergistic reduction in inflammatory load that explains why comprehensive lifestyle change has more powerful health effects than any single intervention.