Inflammation (Part 1)

Is your body hot, cold or lukewarm? I am not talking about your actual body temperature but the degree to which unwanted inflammation is affecting your body.  Some inflammation we can feel and see. There is also silent inflammation that has no symptoms but can cause disease.

Inflammation is actually an amazing part of our body’s healing systems. It is an essential part of how we fight infections and heal against damage caused by injuries. It is always associated with fighting infection. Without inflammation our first infection or injury would have probably ended our lives. The signs of inflammation are heat, swelling, redness, and pain including loss of function.

Inflammation is a process where our immune (white blood) cells produce a wide range of chemicals that co-ordinate the process of removing the cause of the problem and then to clean up the mess to complete the healing process. These processes are incredibly complex and involve a wide range of cell types and a variety of messenger compounds. Actually many inflammatory problems are caused by overactive messengers triggering unwanted inflammation.

The inflammatory process is like your kitchen tap. When working well you get cold water when you turn the cold tap and hot water when the hot is on.  Unwanted inflammation is like turning the cold tap and getting warm or even hot water instead.

A common cause of unwanted inflammation is when our body tries to repair a problem that it cannot actually fix. This is typical of osteoarthritis. The problem is caused by cartilage erosion. But most of the pain is caused by immune cells inflaming joint tissue in an attempt to repair it. All this does is cause unnecessary pain, swelling and loss of function.

If you are affected by arthritis or any inflammation I recommend following an anti-inflammatory diet with supplements that can help reduce unwanted inflammation.  Feel free to contact me if you have questions.