Metabolic dysfunction driving chronic diseases

In a new paper published in Mitochondrion, Robert K. Naviaux, MD PhD, professor of medicine, paediatrics and pathology at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, states that ‘chronic disease is essentially the consequence of the natural healing cycle becoming blocked, specifically by disruptions at the metabolic and cellular levels.’

For more than a decade, Naviaux and his team have been researching ‘cell danger response’ (CDR) which is the natural cellular reaction to injury or stress.  The team conclude that most chronic illnesses are caused by the biological reaction to injury, not the initial injury.  This occurs as a result of metabolic dysfunction preventing the body from completing the healing process. 

”For example,” said Naviaux, “ melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer can be caused by sun exposure that occurred decades earlier, damaging DNA that was never repaired.  Post traumatic stress disorder can flare months or years after the original head injury has healed.  Chronic disease results when cells are caught in a repeating loop of incomplete recovery and re-injury, unable to fully heal.  This biology is at the root of virtually every chronic illness known including susceptibility to recurrent infections, autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetic heart and kidney disease, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Alzheimer’s, dementia and cancer.”