What if many of the most vexing diseases and conditions all had one common feature? Well, they might. In short, you’re too pumped. Here’s a very interesting look at the one symptom that keeps pushing its way into everything. Harvard Magazine: Raw and Red-Hot: Could inflammation be the cause of myriad chronic conditions? “In medicine, believing something is true is not the same as being able to prove it. Because the idea that inflammation—constant, low-level, immune-system activation —could be at the root of many noncommunicable diseases is a startling claim, it requires extraordinary proof. Can seemingly unconnected illnesses of the brain, the vasculature, lungs, liver, and joints really share a deep biological link? Evidence has been mounting that these common chronic conditions—including Alzheimer’s, cancer, arthritis, asthma, gout, psoriasis, anemia, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and depression among them—are indeed triggered by low-grade, long-term inflammation.” (And all this time I thought my swelling was just pride.)