The Effect of Diet on Chronic Inflammation and Related Disorders Following Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord Injury (SCI) is a condition commonly associated with a state of chronic low-grade inflammation due to a variety of factors such heightened risk for infection and development of metabolic disorders. Many disorders which have been demonstrated to have an inflammatory basis have also been found to be at much higher prevalence following SCI. Such conditions include, but are not limited to, depression, cognitive impairment, neuropathic pain, and somatic/autonomic nerve function. The fact that such disorders have an inflammatory basis provides a unique opportunity to treat them with intervention strategies which target the immune system. Natural anti-inflammatory interventions including a diet consisting of foods and supplements with anti-inflammatory properties may be an effective option for treating inflammation in this population. As this treatment strategy will target the inflammatory basis of many disorders it would be expected to lead to a reduction in pro-inflammatory mediators thereby leading to more sustainable long-term immune improvements regarding enzyme function and protein balances. Despite this, surprisingly little research has focused on the use of anti-inflammatory foods for the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions, and effects specific to SCI have been almost completely neglected. As such, the current study will focus on the daily intake of natural supplements with anti-inflammatory properties over a 3 month intervention and the effects on inflammation and associated disorders will be assessed. It is hypothesized that the supplementation will result in positive alterations in enzyme regulation and protein balances resulting in improvements in each of the outcome measures of interest.