Let’s talk a bit about what a cytokine storm actually is.
The immune response that is part of a defense process designed to keep the body alive and well. We see the normal immune system triggered by infection then creating a high fever that combats the invaders through an inflammatory response. In said healthy immune system this is a pretty fast process. 3-7 days with a pretty standard pattern of fever, fatigue and cough or vomiting, headaches, diarrhea etc that cycles until it clears. Generally fever spiking every night but lesser and lesser until clearing and resolution. Fatigue is not unusual to allow the body to recover.
In a cytokine storm (which is an abnormal immune response) there is something different that happens. Infection does not trigger a fever, there is no actual body defense happening, the infection load grows until there is a forced and violent reaction. The response is sudden and aggressive. When this happens there is an explosion of inflammation that is unmanaged and this kind of body cannot regulate. It goes into a crisis and struggles to recover.
Same infection, same inflammation – different reaction and different outcome
Healthy individuals mount an immediate response.
The more co-morbidities (other health issues) the more chronic inflammation one has ongoing.
The more inflammation the more decreased the response is and the less or fewer fevers one has. Some people live daily in a state of hypothermia or body temperatures in the 97* range. Which is not normal. Even if it is common for a person.
Normal and common are not the same thing.
Chronic pain is a marker of inflammation, but so is chronic skin problems (eczema, psoriasis, rashes, boils, itching, burning), asthma, allergies, gastric issues, cardiac, joint pain stiffness, autoimmune diseases, cancer and sadly obesity , hormonal imbalances, blood sugar imbalances to mention a few..
One of the best markers for health is the last time you had a high fever and how it resolved. How you managed it. How fast you recovered. All of that can be predicted by your daily body temperature pre infection. That offers great insight into a person’s current level of health. My digging deep into your life history helps me figure out how much health we can potentially get back. Has the pathology stayed on the physical level or has it moved into the emotional or mental level. All help us determines speed of remedies and potential path for recovery.
We will start digging into the actual theory of levels of health next.
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