The Jeremiah Metzger Lecture: Inflammation, Immune Modulators, and Chronic Disease.

Chronic inflammation is a risk factor for many different diseases. It is clear that inflammation is associated with degenerative brain diseases, obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Throughout the past 100 years, changes in the causes of death in the US have been dramatic. The most recent data indicate that cardiovascular disease and cancer are now responsible for 63% of mortality in the US population. Although progression of these diseases is related to diet, lifestyle, and genetic factors, a common but often unrecognized link is the presence of underlying chronic inflammation. As of 2014, 83.6 million people were living with some form of cardiovascular disease, 29.1 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes, 14 million people carried the diagnosis of cancer, and 5.2 million people were living with Alzheimer disease. These diseases are a huge burden on our health care system and all have been associated with chronic inflammation.