Inflammation is your body's response to injury or infection. It's a natural defense mechanism that helps protect and heal damaged tissue. When tissues in your body are injured, either by infection, physical trauma, heat, chemicals, or other causes, a cascade of biological processes starts.
The key things that happen during inflammation are:
Some common signs and symptoms of inflammation include:
Inflammation can be acute or chronic. Acute inflammation starts rapidly and becomes severe rather quickly over days or weeks. It's the body's initial response to harmful stimuli. Chronic inflammation lasts for months or years, resulting from the body's failure to eliminate whatever is causing the issue.
While inflammation is normally protective, too much can cause tissue damage. And chronic inflammation is associated with various diseases like arthritis, autoimmune disorders, heart disease, and even cancer.
Controlling inflammation is key for managing many health conditions. Anti-inflammatory medications like NSAIDs and corticosteroids may help. Lifestyle measures like losing weight, eating an anti-inflammatory diet, exercising, quitting smoking, and reducing stress can also make a difference.
So in summary, inflammation is an important defense mechanism and healing response that protects the body from infection and injury. It involves increased blood flow, swelling, white blood cell activity, and the release of signaling chemicals. Keeping inflammation under control is crucial, as too much can become problematic over time. Managing health conditions often requires a multifaceted approach to calming inflammation.