What is inflammation?
Inflammation is a response of our immune system to injury or irritation. Through inflammation our body attempts to remove the cause of injury by producing pain, swelling, redness and heat. The pain lets us know about the damage and the swelling protects us as it prevents us from moving that body part which could cause more irritation. Inflammation can be acute or chronic.
Acute inflammation
It is the initial response of our body to injury or infection. It happens over seconds, minutes, hours, or days. We need acute inflammation so that the healing takes place in our body.
Chronic inflammation
However, prolonged inflammation, known as chronic inflammation, is a never ending response of the body to injuries or infections. Although inflammation is needed to heal injuries, long term inflammation can lead to serious chronic diseases. In fact, more and more studies are coming out proving that inflammation is linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes as well as Alzheimer's and several kinds of dementia. Scary, isn't it?
Factors that cause inflammation
Several factors may cause inflammation. Among them we find:
- Injuries
- Toxins and chemicals in our air, water and food
- Poor nutritional habits
- Bacterial or viral infections
- Allergies
- Medications
- Diseases of the immune system
- Physical and emotional stress
As you may have guessed by now, reducing inflammation seems to be crucial to prevent a wide range of chronic illnesses that have the potential of shortening our lives.
David Ogden
CEO TheInterbiz LLC
Independent TriVita Affiliate 13142173
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