What is inflammation? How does it affect my body, and what can I do about it?

Inflammation comes from latin Inflammare: “To set on fire” 

Inflammation is the body’s normal physiological attempt to defend itself against foreign invasions, and repair it from injury.

Imagine the immune system in the body as a hotel. 

The hotel has a security guard & a manager.

The security guard constantly checks for *strangers*: e.g., a potentially threatening molecule (in microbes & food)…

…if strangers come, the guard sends a *danger* signal out to the hotel manager…(defense)

And the hotel manager mounts an appropriate response…

Sometimes, that’s being tolerant and doing nothing. (Tolerance) After all, strangers are allowed in hotels.

Sometimes, if it is a robber, the manager calls the police. (Defense)

If the hotel gets robbed, the police come, defend the hotel, and recompense the hotel for the damage caused by the robber. (Repair)

The problem is when the security guard thinks everyone is a threat, or when the manager calls the police every day.

Then, the hotel would be a very stressful place to work, and have a lot of problems for guests.

This is what happens when the body is under *chronic inflammation*.

Chronic inflammation essentially takes what is an acute response (“there’s a robber”)…

…and repeats it daily.

MOST CHRONIC DISEASES HAVE BEEN LINKED TO CHRONIC INFLAMMATION

- Skin: Eczema

- Rheumatological: Autoimmune disorders (i.e., Lupus, 

- Gastroenterological: 

- Cardiovascular: 

- Neurodegenerative: Alzheimer’s Dementia, Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

- Cancer

- Endocrine: diabetes

- Psychiatric: schizophrenia, depression