Why we look at Glycans
Our body is a result of a beautiful evolutionary design.
Every good design comes with a set of rules. The most important rule is “when using elements to create an important function, always design a backup”. By principal, the primary system will be responsible for the function, but when it is no longer able to fulfil its function a backup will turn on.
In relation to our body, for example, mild stress would activate our major system for the response to stress and regular turning on will help its maintenance the same way as optimal training helps the maintenance of physical strength. To the contrary, long-lasting and exhaustive stress will override the capacity of the major system of stress response and trigger a backup. Sometimes a backup is not very good, this is why we have even more backups.
Some of the most important functions in our body can have 30 backups, which could also mean that neither one is particularly efficient.
That’s the first rule of good design, every function has systems that support it. The second rule of design is “don’t use one system for only one function”.
For example, how we heat our homes, central heating. If there is no gas, it would be good to have a fireplace or electric heaters.
How does one heat a human body and keep it at 36 degrees? We burn energy, we burn food. We have an additional layer of fat and thick skin keeping us warm. Then water is the most important element in keeping the temperature in our body.
Each element supports multiple functions.
The third rule of design “You never design a system for it to collapse.” You design protection. This protection prevents a system collapse from happening. You don’t go through a collapse but you allow isolation of a potential or real threat, so you, in fact, allow limited damage.
For example, in the event of a fire. You have fire doors which stop or localise a fire. You sacrifice this part, it deteriorates or you lose it. This is what the immune’s defence system of inflammations is for. A harmful event could be a problem for the whole organism, the inflammation is our fire door.
This is why we don’t just die, we age.
It would be logical to search for a marker of the level of degeneration on the immune system. On a daily base, our immune system produces antibodies — blood-circulating molecules defending our body from various attacks which come from the environment. Those are the most versatile molecules of our body, managing to hold on myriads of intruders through-out our lifetime. Besides the basic structure, antibodies also come with various sugar-like structures. We believe that those sugar-like structures — so cold glycans, reflect global regulation of the immune system. An optimally functioning immune system quickly opens the fire and very precisely shuts intruders with no more fire then is required. An optimally functioning immune system is self-limiting in action.
If the body is under severe acute stress, production of antibodies seizes, because they are energetically very expensive. But, if stress goes on immune system rises again, but with less mighty and precise weapons. We propose that the first signs of eustress (beneficial one) turning into distress (deleterious one) would be visible as glycans change on antibodies. This is why we believe that glycans on antibodies are a good marker for the level of degeneration.
This low-grade inflammation is the process characteristic of chronic diseases. Our body fights and the fire goes on because we over-ride our capacity to produce efficient weapons.
Chronic diseases are a manifestation of a weak system.
A well-balanced system is a strong system.
Fitness is a daily dose of eustress — an important element of keeping a balanced system.
Watch this space as we explore how different types of exercise, like intense endurance and interval training, affect our inflammatory status differently.
