To best understand how anti-inflammatory drugs block normal (healthy!) prostaglandin function, let’s first take a step back and take a bigger picture look at what prostaglandins are and how they typically function. To do so, we have to start at the beginning: with the all important fat.
When we consume fat, it is transported into the lymphatic system. From there, fatty acids are transported to cell walls where it is used throughout the body. In the liver, for instance, fatty acids can be converted into other types of fatty acids (like the all important EPA and DHA). Fatty acids are also transported to the heart where they are crucial for heart health. Just as important, fatty acids (elongated fatty acids, to be specific) are used to create prostaglandins, a hormone like substance which are then synthesized in the cell membranes.
There are two types of prostaglandins, which we have erroneously dubbed ‘good prostaglandins’ and ‘bad prostaglandins’. What we refer to as good prostaglandins are the anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, PG1 and PG3. Pro-inflammatory prostaglandins, PG2, have earned the nickname of bad prostaglandins. What this naming convention fails to address, however, is that BOTH types of prostaglandins are crucial to helping the body heal.
In order to control inflammation, the body first inflames (using PG2) and then anti-inflames (PG1 and PG3). Many of the inflammatory issues and diseases so prevalent today are due to the disbalance of inflammatory regulators, of which prostaglandins play a major role.
Now, let’s discuss where anti-inflammatory drugs come into play. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, NSAIDS, and steroids actually block normal prostaglandin function by stopping the conjugation of these fatty acids that prostaglandins are created from.
To go a little deeper, let’s look at aspirin, which is something widely considered acceptable and harmless in our society. Aspirin works by stopping arachidonic acid from converting into the inflammatory prostaglandins (hence the relief from inflammation that it temporarily provides). What most people fail to realize however, is that a) Aspirin also stops the body’s natural anti-inflammatory prostaglandins and b) both types of prostaglandins have multiple other bodily functions that are inhibited when anti-inflammatory drugs interfere.
Additionally, there are many nutrients that are required by the body to create prostaglandins (particularly B6, zinc and magnesium). We know that anti-inflammatory drugs deplete the body of certain nutrients, which adds yet another layer of difficulty in prostaglandin formation when these anti-inflammatory drugs are involved.
Fortunately, however, there are several other options to help problematic inflammation in the body (eating whole foods, eliminating processed oils, increasing Vitamin E, identifying the root cause of inflammation) that do NOT impair prostaglandin formation.