Exhausted? Could It Be Cell Danger Response?

Do you find yourself exhausted? Could you be stuck in Cell Danger Response?

I first started experiencing chronic fatigue in the middle of grad school. Before that, my main complaint was joint pain. I worked hard in my early 20s to lower my inflammation, and I was able to reverse multiple autoimmune diseases, including Rheumatoid Arthritis and Pre-Diabetes. 

While I had started seeing a functional medicine doctor because of chronic joint pain, the lifestyle modifications we tried for my joints actually restored a lot of my energy. (It would be over a decade before I would finally figure out my main joint pain trigger, anti-nutrients, but more on that later.) 

However, after the apartment above me busted a pipe (read more about the story in Signs Of Mold Poisoning I Missed), my struggles with fatigue came back. 

My energy levels continued to decline until I discovered we were living in toxic mold and remediated it. After a couple of months post-mold removal, however, I only felt 5% better. I was hoping to notice more of a difference since I was out of mold and taking binders. 

I found myself curious if there was more to the picture than I realized. Could the mold toxins have caused other issues in my body? 

I began wondering if I was probably stuck in Cell Danger Response.

What Is the Cell Danger Response?

Cell Danger Response (CDR) is when your body starts strictly conserving its resources in an attempt to protect you from perceived harm. Even after a threat has passed it won’t let your body return back to its normal processes, and it may lead to issues like fatigue and other elusive health issues. 

It’s like the body has gone into a self-preservation mode and gets stuck. 

Robert Naviaux, professor and researcher at the University of California San Diego, who is credited with coining the term, Cell Danger Response, explains, “It is triggered by encounters with chemical, physical, or biological threats that exceed the cellular capacity for homeostasis” (Naviaux, 2014). In other words, If the body is challenged with something too big that prevents it from getting back to regular function.

The inability to overcome the threat(s) leads to a “metabolic mismatch between available resources and functional capacity producing a cascade of changes” in the body. That is above my pay grade, but I’ll list them in case you’re curious, “cellular electron flow, oxygen consumption, redox, membrane fluidity, lipid dynamics, bioenergetics, carbon and sulfur resource allocation, protein folding and aggregation, vitamin availability, metal homeostasis, indole, pterin, 1-carbon and polyamine metabolism, and polymer formation.” (Naviaux, 2014) 

Anyone remember from high school that the mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell? Science has also determined that our mitochondria are “the processor of the cell” (Naviaux, 2020). Mitochondria act like scanners sensing for threats. 

And if there is danger, your mitochondrial function works to protect you with: (again above my pay grade here, but I’ll list them in case you’re interested) “release of metabolic intermediates like ATP and ADP, Krebs cycle intermediates, oxygen, and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and is sustained by purinergic signaling” (Naviaux, 2014).

Cell Danger Response Gone Wrong?

What’s supposed to happen is, “After the danger has been eliminated or neutralized, a choreographed sequence of anti-inflammatory and regenerative pathways is activated to reverse the CDR and to heal.” But what if that doesn’t happen? 

Here’s the important takeaway: “When the CDR persists abnormally, whole body metabolism and the gut microbiome are disturbed, the collective performance of multiple organ systems is impaired, behavior is changed, and chronic disease results” (Naviaux, 2014). 

The main issue is that the regulation of the healing cycle doesn’t get completed. 

Before we look at what to do to try to get your body to complete that cycle, let’s look at what can cause Cell Danger Response. 

What Causes Cell Danger Response?

Naxiaux claims that “Chemical pollutants in the environment lower the threshold for CDR activation” (Naviaux, 2020). That is, exposure to toxins makes us more likely to over burden our bodies and end up in the Cell Danger Response. 

There are initial studies being done to look at the links between Cell Danger Response and chronic diseases like:

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
• Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
• Lupus
• Asthma 
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Bipolar Disorder 
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 
• Alzheimer’s 
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) 
• Heart Disease
• Rheumatoid Arthritis

However, I am also suspicious that many of us are also stuck in fight or flight mode where we are rushing all of the time. When we don’t slow down, our body stays revved up so we never get to the place of rest and digest. In other words, we don’t complete the healing cycle and get back to homeostasis. 

RELATED: If you think this is interesting, check out this interview with Ann Odom. While it isn’t about cell danger response specifically, it’s along a similar vein discussing healing your inner child so your body can get out of fight or flight.

Here’s what I think led to my body getting stuck in Cell Danger Response. 

What Pushed Me Into Cell Danger Response

I suspect after my long, arduous journey with repeated mold poisoning, I got stuck in this loop where my body didn’t complete the healing cycle. And this was causing the crippling chronic fatigue.

Because of the mold poisoning, I’ve had liver and kidney damage that has inhibited my ability to process anti-nutrients like oxalates. This left these sharp particles floating around my body and continuing to spark my cells into the Cell Danger Response and Mast Cell Activation. 

But the straw that broke the camel’s back for my health was repeated medical trauma. It’s when my autoimmune disorders started. Within a few years, I had debilitating fatigue and severe histamine sensitivity. 

Finally, I started to put the pieces together that I was reacting to oxalates, and I learned that oxalate overload can be caused by mold poisoning. 

But even after reducing my toxic burden, I had to help my body get back to normal functioning and complete the healing cycle. I’ll share more about what helped me get out of persistent Cell Danger Response in next month’s post. 

If you are facing mysterious health issues, don’t fall victim to medical gaslighting where doctors simply tell you it’s all on your head or just anxiety. Advocate for yourself to get further testing and to find answers. 

Do you suspect you’re stuck in Cell Danger Response? Share your experience in the comments below! 

Learn more in part 2: What to do about Cell Danger Response.

Sources

Li, K., Naviaux, J. C., Lingampelly, S. S., Wang, L., Monk, J. M., Taylor, C. M., Ostle, C., Batten, S., & Naviaux, R. K. (2023). Historical biomonitoring of pollution trends in the North Pacific using archived samples from the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey. The Science of the total environment, 865, 161222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161222 

Naviaux R. K. (2019). Incomplete Healing as a Cause of Aging: The Role of Mitochondria and the Cell Danger Response. Biology, 8(2), 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology8020027 

Naviaux R. K. (2014). Metabolic features of the Cell Danger Response. Mitochondrion, 16, 7–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mito.2013.08.006 

Naviaux, R. K., Naviaux, J. C., Li, K., Bright, A. T., Alaynick, W. A., Wang, L., Baxter, A., Nathan, N., Anderson, W., & Gordon, E. (2016). Metabolic features of chronic fatigue syndrome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(37), E5472–E5480. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607571113 

Naviaux R. K. (2023). Mitochondrial and metabolic features of salugenesis and the healing cycle. Mitochondrion, 70, 131–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mito.2023.04.003 

Naviaux R. K. (2020). Perspective: Cell Danger Response Biology-The new science that connects environmental health with mitochondria and the rising tide of chronic illness. Mitochondrion, 51, 40–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mito.2019.12.005

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