Low-Grade Chronic Inflammation and Ageing - a Highly Explosive Combination

The number of older people on the planet is increasing in an ageing overall world population. This comes with a rise in the proportion of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as global causes of death and lost years lived in health. The past few years have seen growth in NCDs and low-grade chronic inflammation (LGCI) identified as a common denominator in the ageing process, calling for targeted control of LGCI as a promising approach towards improving health and well-being in an ageing population. LGCI is an insidious condition; unlike the acute inflammatory reactions, LGCI acts silently without noticeable symptoms, and may hide beneath the radar for years. The current situation with half of the world's deaths already attributed to inflammatory-related diseases threatens to worsen without targeted control measures. A corresponding strategy with a few targeted measures may significantly improve public health due to the role that LGCI plays in the development of various NCDs. The first part of this narrative review will focus on the discovery, measurement, and significance of LGCI and its underlying mechanisms.