What is inflammation?

Studies show that systemic inflammation is involved in:

• Allergy
• Alzheimer's disease
• Anemia
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Aortic valve stenosis
• Arthritis
• Cancer
• Congestive heart failure
• Diabetes
• Fibromyalgia
• Fibrosis
• Hypertension
• Heart attack
• Huntington's disease
• Irritable bowel disorder
• Kidney disease
• Lupus
• Metabolic syndrome
• Osteoporosis
• Parkinson's disease
• Psoriasis
• Stroke

Inflammation is a normal part of  the body's defence against germs. The increase in body temperature, flood of toxic free radicals and inflammation-signalling proteins, and release of killer macrophage cells are the hallmarks of an inflammatory event that is the body's long established means of defending against a clear and present danger. In modern man, however, this vigorous adaptive response, honed from millions of years of evolution, can become a source of debilitating disease. Inflammation is a double edged sword whereby it keeps us healthy when we are young but it is believed to be linked to the very process of aging.

As we age, our ability to regulate inflammation begins to wane. Then, rather than protecting us, inflammation becomes silent and systemic, morphing into a process of stealth through which degenerative disease takes root. The symptoms of silent inflammation are entirely different from the cardinal signs of acute inflammation- rubor (redness), calor (heat), tumor (swelling), and dolor (pain)- and can lie undetected until catastrophe strikes.

When inflammation turns silent, things turn ugly. Silent inflammation causes the body to turn on itself, its immune defences attacking its own organs. Over time, dangerous proinflammatory cytokines (specialized signalling proteins), such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 and inflammation-producing eicosanoids (oxygenated essential fatty acids), such as prostaglandin E-2 and leukotriene B-4, begin to destroy tissues throughout the body. In response to this systemic attack from within, the body produces even more inflammatory cytokines and damaging free radicals, creating a self-perpetuating cycle. Like a smouldering fire that slowly consumes itself, silent inflammation damages arteries, destroys nerve cells and organs, compromises the immune system, and promotes cancerous growths. If you have silent inflammation, despite how well you may feel today, you are on a fast track towards degenerative disease tomorrow.