Inflammation is a natural process that your body uses to heal and protect itself. On the other hand, Inflammation can be harmful if it becomes chronic. Chronic Inflammation can last for weeks, months, or years, and it can cause various health problems.
What is meant to be inflammation?
Inflammation is your body’s defense mechanism against infection, illness, or injury. As part of the inflammatory response, your body produces more white blood cells, immune cells, and anti-infective substances known as cytokines. Acute (short-term) inflammation is characterized by redness, pain, heat, and swelling. Chronic (long-term) inflammation, on the other hand, frequently occurs within your body without any noticeable symptoms. Diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease, and cancer can all be caused by this type of Inflammation.
Although you cannot see, you feel it, inflammation may slowly damage your body. Inflammation (swelling), a natural part of the body’s healing system, aids in the fight against injury and infection. However, it does not only occur due to injury or illness. An inflammatory response can also occur when the immune system activates without an injury or infection to combat. Because there is nothing to heal, the immune cells that usually protect us start to destroy healthy arteries, organs, and joints.
What are the types of inflammation?
Inflammation is classified into two types:
- Acute inflammation is the body’s reaction to a sudden injury, such as cutting your finger. Your body sends inflammatory cells to the wound to heal it. These cells initiate the healing procedure.
- Chronic inflammation occurs when your body continues to send inflammatory cells even when there is no external threat. In rheumatoid arthritis, for example, inflammatory cells and substances attack joint tissues, causing an inflammation that comes and goes and can cause severe damage to joints, including pain and deformities.
What are the causes of inflammation?
Inflammation occurs when a physical factor causes an immune response. Inflammation does not always indicate infection, but infection can cause inflammation.
Acute inflammation
- Acute inflammation can be caused by: a substance, such as a bee sting or dust; or an injury.
- A bacterial infection
When the body detects damage or pathogens, the immune system initiates several responses:
- Tissues accumulate plasma proteins, resulting in fluid buildup and swelling.
- The body sends neutrophils, a type of white blood cell or leukocyte, to the affected area. Leukocytes contain molecules that can aid in the fight against pathogens.
- Small blood vessels enlarge, making it easier for leukocytes and plasma proteins to reach the injury site.
Depending on the cause, symptoms of acute inflammation can appear within hours or days. They can quickly become severe in some cases. The cause, which part of the body they affect, and individual factors will all influence how they develop and how long they last.
Acute inflammation can be caused by a variety of factors and infections, including:
- acute bronchitis
- appendicitis, and other illnesses ending in “-itis”
- an ingrown toenail
- a cold or flu sore throat
- physical trauma or wound
Chronic inflammation
Chronic inflammation can occur when a person has:
Sensitivity: Inflammation occurs when the body detects something that it should not detect. An allergy can develop as a result of hypersensitivity to an external trigger.
Long-term, low-level exposure to an irritant, such as an industrial chemical, can sometimes result in chronic inflammation.
Autoimmune disorders, such as psoriasis, occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks normal healthy tissue.
Autoinflammatory diseases: As in Behçet’s disease, a genetic factor influences how the immune system functions.
Persistent acute inflammation: A person may not fully recover from acute inflammation in some cases. This can sometimes result in chronic inflammation.
Is inflammation a painful condition?
Acute inflammation can cause various types and degrees of pain. The pain can be constant and steady, throbbing and pulsing, stabbing or pinching.
Pain occurs when fluid buildup causes swelling, and the swollen tissues press against sensitive nerve endings.
During inflammation, other biochemical processes take place. They have an effect on how nerves behave, which can contribute to pain.
Is chronic inflammation an critical issue?
Early signs and symptoms of chronic inflammation can be hazy, with subtle signs and symptoms that can go unnoticed for a long time. You might only feel slightly tired or even expected. However, as inflammation progresses, it harms your arteries, organs, and joints. If left unchecked, it can contribute to chronic diseases such as heart disease, blood vessel disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and other conditions.
Inflammatory immune system cells contribute to the accumulation of fatty deposits in the lining of the heart’s arteries. These plaques can eventually rupture, resulting in the formation of a clot that could potentially block an artery. A heart attack occurs when there is a blockage.
How is Chronic Inflammation Identified?
Surprisingly, no diagnostic tests exist for chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is usually discovered in conjunction with other conditions. There are, however, specific blood tests for inflammatory biomarkers, such as:
Test for C-reactive Protein (CRP)
The CRP test detects C-reactive protein, a type of protein produced by the liver. C-reactive protein levels above normal indicate infection or inflammation in the body.
C-reactive Protein with High Sensitivity (hs-CRP)
The hs-CRP test is a more sensitive version of the standard CRP test that is used to assess the risk of coronary artery disease and heart attack.
ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate) Test
The ESR test measures how quickly red blood cells (erythrocytes) settle at the bottom of a test tube containing a blood sample to detect inflammation in the body.
Is there any treatment available for chronic inflammation?
The treatment plan for chronic inflammation is determined by a number of factors, including the severity of symptoms, age, overall health, and so on. The following medications may be prescribed to prevent or slow down chronic inflammation:
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen are available over-the-counter. These medications do not treat inflammation. They do, however, provide temporary relief from the condition’s painful symptoms.
Corticosteroids are a type of steroid hormone that can be taken as pills, injections, creams, or ointments. By suppressing the immune system, the medication reduces inflammation. However, long-term use of corticosteroids can be harmful. Corticosteroids are only prescribed by a doctor after weighing the benefits and risks.
How to Lower Your Risk of Chronic Inflammation?
A healthy, anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle can help you control — and even reverse — inflammation. People with a family history of health problems, such as heart disease or colon cancer, should consult their doctors about lifestyle changes that support disease prevention by reducing inflammation.
1. Eat plenty of anti-inflammatory foods
Because they can protect against inflammation, your food choices are just as important as the medications and supplements you may be taking for overall health. Making healthy food choices that include fresh vegetables and fruits and limiting our intake of refined sugar can make a big difference. Consume more fruits and vegetables and foods high in omega-3 fatty acids. Cold water fish, such as salmon, are excellent sources of omega-3s.
Grapes, celery, blueberries, garlic, olive oil, tea, and some spices are anti-inflammatory foods (ginger, rosemary, and turmeric). The Mediterranean diet is an excellent anti-inflammatory diet. This is due to its emphasis on fruits, vegetables, fish, and whole grains and restrictions on unhealthy fats like red meat, butter, egg yolks, and processed and refined sugars and carbs.
2. Limit or eliminate inflammatory foods
An anti-inflammatory diet also restricts foods that contribute to inflammation. Red meat and anything containing trans fats, such as margarine, corn oil, deep-fried foods, and most processed foods, are examples of inflammatory foods.
3. Maintain blood sugar levels
Simple carbohydrates should be limited or avoided, such as white flour, white rice, refined sugar, and anything containing high fructose corn syrup. Avoiding white foods such as white bread, rice, and pasta and foods made with white sugar and flour is a simple rule to follow. Build meals around lean proteins and fiber-rich whole foods like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains like brown rice and whole-wheat bread.
4. Schedule time for exercise
Exercise regularly is an excellent way to reduce inflammation. Make time at least four to five times per week for 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic exercise and 10 to 25 minutes of weight or resistance training.
It only takes 20 minutes of moderate exercise, such as a brisk walk with your dog or a friend, to kickstart your body’s anti-inflammatory response. Health guidelines recommend 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week. If you don’t currently exercise, 20 minutes is a good place to start.
5. Slim down
Overweight people have more inflammation. Losing weight may help to reduce inflammation. If you have a few pounds to lose, doing so may help with inflammation. Excess weight, on the other hand, can exacerbate the problem. That’s why obesity and overweight are risk factors for so many health problems. Talk to your doctor about how you can get into a healthy weight range.
6. Stress management
Chronic stress contributes to inflammation. Try meditation, yoga, biofeedback, guided imagery, or another technique to manage stress throughout the day. We may not be able to change many of the stressful situations we face in life, but we can change our responses and perception by learning better stress management techniques.
7. Have a sound sleep
When you don’t get enough sleep, your body may increase inflammation. Every night, you should aim for 7-9 hours of sleep. Attempt to achieve both quality and quantity. Every night and day, go to bed and wake up at the same time, put your screens away well before you lie down, and sleep in a cool, dark, and quiet room.
8. Reduce alcohol consumption
A glass of wine with dinner won’t do you any harm. However, excessive alcohol consumption can increase toxin levels in the body. This causes inflammation, which can cause tissue and organ damage. If you must drink, do so in moderation. The CDC recommends no more than one drink per day for women and two for men.
9. Stop smoking
Smoking has a long list of negative consequences. One of them is increased inflammation. Choose a day to quit and stick to it. But you don’t have to go it alone. Your doctor can devise a strategy to help you kick the habit for good.
10. Avoid dairy and gluten (temporarily)
In healthy people, dairy and gluten are not usually inflammatory (unless you have an allergy, intolerance, or celiac disease), but they can be irritating when there is already inflammation. Some people may benefit from avoiding dairy, gluten, or both for a few weeks while following a diet high in anti-inflammatory foods and low in inflammatory foods. The idea is that this allows the body to “calm down.” Following that, you can gradually begin to incorporate dairy or gluten-containing foods to see if they cause any irritation.
Final words
Inflammation is a part of the immune system’s defence against harmful agents such as bacteria and viruses. It can provide a useful service in the short term, but it may also cause discomfort. Long-term or chronic inflammation, on the other hand, can both cause and result in some severe and potentially fatal conditions.
People with tumours, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, drug reactions, and other health problems may have elevated levels of CRP, which is an indicator of an inflammatory immune response. Scientists’ discoveries about the role of inflammation in disease could lead to more effective treatments for a variety of illnesses for which there is currently no cure, such as type 1 diabetes.