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Showing posts from May, 2022

Inflammation and physical education are good for you

No pain no gain?  Preliminary research implies that we may have been badly mistaken in our fight to reduce inflammation with instant pain-relief gratification, in the form of antiinflammatories such as NSAIDs (ibuprofen, Advil, etc) and corticosteroids (e.g. dexamethasone & prednisone).  Not surprisingly, this research finds that there is actually an essential biological reason for inflammation–including the body marshaling white blood cells to jumpstart our natural healing process.  So, ironically, by aggressively fighting inflammation artificially, we may be reducing white blood cells and limiting healing: gaining short-term pain relief at the cost of long-term pain…and lifelong dependence on painkillers. How does that relate to school health & wellness? Let me make an analogy: By maximizing seat-time to boost reading and math test scores short-term, we have not only failed to increase test scores, but we have sacrificed our children’s long-term health. By no longer even try