What is Inflammation?
Inflammation is the immune system’s natural response to injury and disease. Inflammatory chemicals in the bloodstream work to protect your body from foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. When you are injured, a localized inflammatory response plays a critical role in the healing process.
There are two types of inflammation, acute and chronic. You might think of acute inflammation as the “good” type because it helps us heal, while chronic inflammation is the “bad” type because of its association with chronic disease.
Studies have shown that chronic inflammation plays a role in a variety of health conditions, including arthritis, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Types of Inflammation
Inflammation can be short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic). Acute inflammation subsides within hours or days. Chronic inflammation can persist for months or years even after the initial trigger is gone. Conditions linked to chronic inflammation include:
Heart disease
Diabetes
Asthma
Alzheimer’s disease
Inflammation and Arthritis
Some types of arthritis are the result of inflammation, for example: Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, Gout arthritis.
Other painful conditions of the joints and musculoskeletal system that may not be related to inflammation include osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, muscular lower back pain, and muscular neck pain.
What Are the Symptoms of Inflammation?
Symptoms of inflammation include:
Redness, A swollen joint that may be hot to the touch, Joint pain, joint stiffness, A joint that does not work as it should, Most of the time, you only have a few of these symptoms.
Inflammation can also cause flu-like symptoms, including:
Fire
Shake
Fatigue/loss of energy
headache
Loss of appetite
muscle stiffness
What causes chronic inflammation?
Several things can cause chronic inflammation, including:
untreated acute inflammation, such as an infection or injury
an autoimmune disorder in which your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue
prolonged exposure to irritants such as industrial chemicals or polluted air
Keep in mind that these problems do not cause chronic inflammation in everyone. In addition, some cases of chronic inflammation do not have a clear underlying cause.
He also believes that a number of factors may also contribute to chronic inflammation, such as:
to smoke
obesity
alcohol
chronic stress
It helps fight inflammation (swelling), injury and infection, which is part of the body’s natural healing system. But this doesn’t just happen in response to injury and illness.
An inflammatory response can also occur when the immune system goes into action without an injury or infection to fight it. Since there is nothing to heal, the immune system cells that normally protect us begin to destroy healthy arteries, organs, and joints.
When you don’t eat well, don’t exercise enough, or experience too much stress, the body responds by triggering inflammation. Chronic inflammation can have harmful long-term consequences. So the food you eat, the quality of sleep, and how much exercise you do are all really important in reducing inflammation.
What effect does chronic inflammation have on the body?
The early signs of chronic inflammation may be vague, and there may be minor signs and symptoms that go unnoticed for a long time. You may just feel a little tired or even normal. But as inflammation progresses, it begins to damage your arteries, organs, and joints. Left unchecked, it can contribute to chronic diseases such as heart disease, blood vessel disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions.
The most common way to measure inflammation is to take a blood test for C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), a marker of inflammation. Doctors also measure homocysteine levels to assess chronic inflammation. Finally, doctors test the blood glucose measurement, HbA1C, to assess damage to red blood cells.
What can I do to reduce the risk of chronic inflammation?
You can control and even reverse inflammation with a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle. People with a family history of health problems such as heart disease or colon cancer should talk to their doctor about lifestyle changes that can help prevent disease by reducing inflammation.
Here are six tips to reduce inflammation in your body:
Load up on anti-inflammatory foods
Your food choices are just as important as the medications and supplements you can take for overall health, as they can protect against inflammation.
Making good choices to include fresh vegetables and fruits in our diet and reducing refined sugar intake can make a big difference.
Eat foods containing omega-3 fatty acids. Some of the best sources of omega-3s are salmon and tuna