A New Understanding of Inflammation in the Spine

Inflammation has become a lucrative buzzword in health marketing. The meaning is usually unclear, but the vague implication is that this is something to avoid. Turmeric and yoga and sugar substitutes and the like are marketed as things that decrease inflammation. Even Harvard Medical School’s consumer-facing website has a page titled “Foods That Fight Inflammation.”

At the same time, other checkout-aisle products promise to “boost” the immune system—the arbiter of inflammation. This is confusing. Maybe the hope is that anti-inflammatory foods and immune-boosting foods cancel out, and the buyer makes it out unscathed.

The reality of the immune system is much more interesting. Inflammation is the basis for many symptoms of disease, but it also exists to keep humans alive. And strategically manipulating inflammatory processes—both amplifying and attenuating them at precise times—holds promise for treating all sorts of diseases.

Among the most interesting and illustrative is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,