Understanding Inflammation

Now that it’s (finally!) getting nice out, you may be trying to get a bit healthier through more outdoor activities.   And, inevitably, you may be noticing some aches and pains that are reminding you that you’re not quite as young as you used to be.  That pain is a result of something called inflammation, and it’s inflammation that causes you to feel older and more out-of-shape than you want to.   Let’s look into inflammation and what you can do about it a bit more.

Inflammation is a natural part of the body's own self-healing mechanism, but is widely misunderstood and misrepresented in the popular press.  First, many people confuse the term inflammation with infection—the two are not the same, although the latter often causes the former.  Inflammation is the body's reaction to the presence of harmful stimuli such as injury, damaged cells, pathogens, or irritants.  It manifests as pain, heat, redness, swelling, and loss of function in the inflamed area, but these symptoms are actually part of the body's own healing process, and an attempt to throw off or expel the harmful stimuli.

Inflammation is classified as either acute or chronic.  Acute inflammation describes the body’s initial response to harmful stimuli.  It is created by the movement of white blood cells to the injured tissues.  This part of the healing process involves the local vascular system, the immune system, and other cells in the affected area.

When the inflammatory response becomes prolonged or chronic, however, the same process can become destructive and has been linked to a number of diseases.  Chronic inflammation can result from a failure to eliminate the cause of the initial acute inflammation, an abnormal autoimmune response in which the body mistakes healthy tissue for a pathogen and attacks it, or a chronic, low-intensity irritant that continues to cause the acute inflammation response. Diseases that have been associated with chronic inflammation include asthma, tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic peptic ulcer, periodontitis, ulcerous colitis, Crohn's disease, sinusitis, and hepatitis.  Recent research has linked chronic inflammation with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and even heart failure.

Researchers have identified many factors that seem to contribute to chronic inflammation, thus increasing the risk of all the diseases associated with it. These include sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality, obesity, and—most importantly—eating an inflammatory diet (including fast and processed foods, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, sugar, aspartame, high-fructose corn syrup, and salt).  Stress is also seen as a major cause of chronic inflammation because the stress response sends signals to the adrenal glands to release cortisol, which keeps the body at "high alert," thinking it has to constantly fight off danger and infection, and thus causing the acute inflammation response more often than is necessary.  In other words, you’re always in a ‘fight or flight’ status internally.

Both acute and chronic inflammation can be treated medically using anti-inflammatory medications such as naproxen, ibuprofen, and aspirin.  But let’s be honest, do you really want to be popping pills for the rest of your life?

As an alternative to using more serious drugs such as corticosteroids, a diet rich in antioxidants can help to fight chronic inflammation.  That’s the information I cover in my nutritional consultations.  Your body can only heal itself with the nutrients provided to it through your diet.  What you eat truly is the most important determinant in your quality of life now and in the future.  So, give me a call at the office (894-2399)!  Let’s get you feeling better from the inside.  You don’t need to be a current patient at the office.  All you need to be is…ready to make a change.  Call me.