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This material is taken from Dr. Murphree’s soon to be released 6th edition Treating and Beating Fibromyalgia -partial in depth look at Cell Danger Response and how it affects chronic illness.

Cell Danger Response Theory (CDR)

Could This Be The Underlying Cause of Chronic Illnesses?

I believe it is. What if it is a trigger that ignites fibromyalgia and doesn’t turn off?

Dr Robert Naviaux professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Pathology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, published “Metabolic Features of the Cell Danger Response (CDR)” in 2014. This study outlined the cellular response to chemical, physical and biological threats. His research is a game changer for doctors and their patients.

 According to Dr. theory, the CDR is a fundamental and evolutionarily conserved response that occurs in cells when they perceive a threat (real or imagined) to their survival or integrity.

CDR is a protective and adaptive mechanism that the body activates in response to various stressors, threats, or perceived dangers (real or imagined).

The CDR involves a coordinated set of bodily processes aimed at protecting cells and tissues from harm and promoting survival. Survival at all costs. This response includes changes in cellular metabolism (reducing cellular energy), immune function (initiates immune response), and stress hormones.

Cell Danger Response, or CDR is essentially the body’s response to any perceived threat, real or imagined.

 CDR helps answer some of the questions as to why some people get sick and stay sick while others make a full recovery. Stress, an infection or illness, or an encounter with environmental toxins can trigger cell danger response. A complete CDR cycle in the body starts with a “stressor” and ends with recovery.

A case of influenza or “flu,” is a good example of CDR in action. Once exposed to the virus, your body initiates CDR. Over the course of several days you may experience aches, all over pain, fatigue, brain fog, GI symptoms, and poor sleep. Eventually, after doing its job of fighting off the virus, the CDR is turned off, the healing cycle is complete and your symptoms disappear.

 The CDR response is meant to be short-term.

However, when the body undergoes chronic stress from ongoing bacterial, fungal, parasitic infections, poor sleep, heavy metals, and or toxins, the ‘danger response’ may become stuck, causing your body to remain in a chronic defensive posture.

Trauma, infection, reduced blood flow, toxins, pathogens, and normal wear and tear cause damage and destruction to cells. This damage then triggers an inflammatory response by the body’s self-regulating mechanisms.

Hormones called inflammatory prostaglandins (PG-2) cause blood vessels to dilate, and the area becomes hot, red, and swollen.

The healthy tissue surrounding the damaged area releases anti-inflammatory prostaglandins (PG-1 and PG-3) to combat the inflammatory prostaglandins.

White blood cells begin to attack and digest damaged cells, until the proteolytic enzymes tell them that their job is done. As the damaged tissue is removed, less of the pro-inflammatory chemicals and more of the anti-inflammatory chemicals are released. Once the inflammation process is finished, the body begins to repair itself.

The balance between inflammation, destruction, and repair is an ongoing process. Normally, this process is kept in check. When it becomes unbalanced, chronic inflammation is the result.

Dr. Naviaux explains CDR:

“In chronic illness, the original triggering event is often remote and may no longer be present. Emerging evidence shows that most chronic illness is caused by the biological reaction to an injury, and not the initial injury or the agent of injury itself. For example, melanoma can be caused by sun exposure that occurred decades earlier, and post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur months or years after a bullet wound has healed. If healing is incomplete between injuries, more severe disease is produced. Chronic disease then results when cells are caught in a repeating loop of incomplete recovery and re-injury, unable to fully heal. This biology is at the root of virtually every known chronic illness, including susceptibility to sequential or recurrent infections, autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetic heart and kidney disease, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), cancer, affective disorders, psychiatric illnesses, Alzheimer dementia, and many more.”

Factors that may trigger the CDR include:

· Biological stressors, such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi, as well as nutrient deficiency, nutrient depletion, hypoxia or low oxygen, inflammation, or oxidative stress.

· Chemical stressors, such as heavy metal toxicity, chemical toxins, other toxins, and medications.

· Physical stressors and trauma, such as accidents, injuries, burns, surgeries, and major infections.

· Psychological stressors or trauma, such as divorce, loss of a loved one, emotional neglect, emotional abuse, major financial difficulties, and dealing with a chronic disease.

 Symptoms that you might experience with a prolonged or “stuck” healing response include the following:

· Fatigue

· Chronic pain and inflammation

· GI issues, bloating, gas, pain, irritable bowel

· Poor sleep

· Depression

· Brain fog/poor memory

· Poor exercise tolerance and a decreased ability to recover after exercise

· Inflammation, edema, swelling

· Rashes

The symptoms above are typical of fibromyalgia. Could CDR could be catalyst for fibromyalgia. And could CDR trigger an autoimmune reaction with a underlying genetic tendency? I believe it most likely is and is worth exploring further.

Your Mighty Mitochondria

Within each individual cell are many components, including the mitochondria, the power plants of the cell. Mitochondria produce energy as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), from the food we eat. This energy then powers our cells, tissues and organs. Everything from your heartbeat to your muscle movements depends on an adequate supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) being generated by the mitochondria. These organelles (little organs in a cell) are responsible for producing about 40% – 100% of your body weight in ATP every single day.

In an acute stress situation, the body’s mitochondria increase their production of adenosine triphosphate or ATP (energy) and then after the danger is eliminated, reverse course and stimulate anti-inflammatory, regenerative chemicals to restore healing.

Most cells have between 1,000 and 10,000 mitochondria per cell. The eyes, brain, and heart contain around 10,000 mitochondria per cell, and the liver contains around 2,000 per cell.

Some scientists estimate that the mitochondria in the human body collectively house as much potential energy as a lightning bolt!

Mitochondria have an electric field strength of 30 million volts, which is equivalent to a lightning bolt… or 2.5 million car batteries.

Unfortunately, research has shown that in people with fibromyalgia, their cells have fewer mitochondria and the mitochondria that are present, often don’t function properly. This may be due to a genetic abnormality, nutritional deficiencies, oxidative stress, or a combination of these factors. Regardless, it puts those with fibromyalgia at a distinct disadvantage.

Our cells must maintain a certain level of energy to maintain balance (cellular homeostasis). There is a minimum level of energy required at any given time to maintain the day-to-day functions of the cell. If there is a significant drop in energy below a specific threshold, the mitochondria will sense this drop of energy as a threat.

As a result, the mitochondria will change their primary function from energy production to cell defense.

A stressed cell that meets with a toxin or pathogen will begin to leak ATP into the bloodstream. It is this extracellular ATP (which under normal circumstances is found only inside of the cell) that initiates the first phase of cell danger response. Eventually, the mitochondria shut down energy production and scrambles outside of the cell to signal the immune system. This in turn triggers inflammation.

Hormone production and communication may be compromised from CDR.

This is one reason why hormonal problems are so common in those with a chronic illness, including those with fibromyalgia who often struggle with low hormone production. Deficiencies of common, vital hormones including cortisol, DHEA, melatonin, neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine), and thyroid hormones, are common in fibromyalgia.

Hormones also work to regulate mitochondrial function. Thus, if hormone levels are off, it will impair mitochondria, which will further impair hormone production. This is a vicious cycle that compromises the patient’s ability to overcome their chronic illness.

Mitochondria have a two-way communication with the nervous system. If mitochondria sense danger they will communicate to the nervous system and signal it to make alterations. Likewise, if the nervous system is under duress, it will also communicate to the mitochondria to begin the transition into CDR.

In my upcoming 6th edition of I’ll share more information on how CDR is the underlying cause of most every unwanted chronic health condition from autoimmune arthritis to fibromyalgia. And more importantly how to reset the CDR to effectively reduce or eliminate pain, fatigue, brain fog, irritable bowel, poor sleep, anxiety, and depression tied chronic illness.

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