What causes body aches?
October 18th, 2009 at 9:11 am (Biology, Health)
It has always seemed a little unfair that, in the midst of trying to fight off a flu, you would be beset with aches all over your body. What purpose could aching really serve? The only hypothesis I could come up with was that it was a signal from the body to the brain: “Hey, I’m busy fighting a war in here, please divert all possible energy to the production of white blood cells and temperature elevation, and stop trying to walk around.” But once you’re collapsed on the couch, eyes swimming too much even to read, then really, what’s the point in that signaling system continuing its torture?
As usual when googling to learn about any sort of medical symptom, you can find sufficient material to send anyone into a hypochondriac frenzy just based on “body aches.” They could indicate that you are suffering from stress, depression, or even pregnancy! (No, not really. :) )
But back to the why: body aches (myalgia) in the case of the flu are caused by the body’s self-defense functions. According to Richard Deem (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center), macrophages attack diseased cells, producing inflammatory interleukins (especially IL-6, and that inflammation manifests as an aching body. So the aches just mean that the defense system is active—and the bad cells are being weeded out.