You wouldn’t think that one of your body’s life saving mechanisms could actually turn against you and increase your chance for disease, but that’s exactly what happens with inflammation. Just what is inflammation ?
Inflammation is the body’s response to injury or illness. It’s a process by which the body’s white blood cells and other chemicals protect us from infection and foreign substances like bacteria and viruses.
Inflammation is triggered by the body’s immune system, and is designed to repair injured tissue, and promote healing. This all sounds really great doesn’t it? There’s a problem though.
When the immune system’s battle against an injury or illness is over, inflammation is supposed to cease, but sometimes doesn’t. When inflammation no longer has a foreign enemy to fight off, it causes damage to otherwise healthy tissues. This is referred to as “autoimmune disease.”
Low grade inflammation can set in motion a series of developments that underlie a wide variety of diseases and conditions such as heart disease and stroke. It also appears that inflammation is the driving force behind “atherosclerosis,” in which plaque builds up in the walls of arteries, thereby reducing blood flow.