Have you ever suffered from a condition that ends in ‘-ITIS’?
If you have been diagnosed with a condition ending in ‘-itis’, you have suffered from some form of inflammation.
Conditions like dermatitis, gingivitis, cystitis, tendonitis, bursitis, or tonsillitis. These are all reflecting inflammation of a specific organ or tissue.
What I wanted to talk about today is the difference between acute and chronic inflammation and how chronic inflammation is devastating to the body.
Acute inflammation occurs when you have a short-term injury, and healing is required.
For instance, you cut your finger or sprained your ankle. Both instances require acute inflammation to stimulate healing. In the case of the cut finger, acute inflammation activates white blood cells to defeat bacteria entering the wound, and a chemical cascade stimulates the tissue to heal. The sprained ankle is similar but without immune cells defeating bacteria.
Acute inflammation helps with the healing of the body. Symptoms that can present with acute inflammation are redness, swelling, pain and heat.
However, if inflammation becomes long-term or chronic, it can create damage and destruction to tissues of the body.
Think of inflammation like a fire.
Acute inflammation is the back-burning controlled fires that we used to engage in when I was growing up. I grew up on a rural property, and to keep the property and animals safe during hot summers, we conducted controlled burns at the end of winter.
The controlled fires removed the dense undergrowth that could become fuel for a bushfire and helped the native vegetation regrow again. Once the controlled burn had done the job of eliminating thick old timbers, dense undergrowth and fallen trees, then we safely put out the fire.
That is like acute inflammation – controlled and short-lived.
Chronic inflammation is like uncontrolled bushfires that devastate the land.
Many Australians witnessed uncontrolled bushfires just a few short years ago when the fires burnt and decimated native vegetation, wildlife, destroyed homes, and took weeks/months to control.
It takes a long time to recover from large uncontrolled bushfires in terms of nature and households. (I have clients still without homes from the 2019 bushfires)
The same with the body. Chronic inflammation can create a state of damage to tissues, deplete nutritional stores, and interfere with the natural healing process.
How do you know when there’s long-term chronic inflammation in the body?
If you’ve been diagnosed with any disease condition, you are suffering from chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is the driver of disease, including IBS, diabetes, osteoarthritis and autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Lupus and Rheumatoid arthritis.
Chronic inflammation needs to be addressed to conquer disease.
Unfortunately, chronic inflammation doesn’t have the same symptoms as acute inflammation. Instead, chronic inflammation has more non-specific symptoms. These symptoms can include brain fog, muscle aches and pains, joint pains, fatigue, and tiredness to name a few.
The question is, how do you know if you’re suffering from chronic inflammation?
- If you have been diagnosed with a disease, then you have chronic inflammation
- Pathology testing – specific tests like high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), Fibrinogen, Interleukins, especially Interleukin-6 and Homocysteine.
- Blood screening processes can indicate inflammation of the blood
- Genetic Testing can indicate the risk of chronic inflammation, but pathology testing is still needed to see the current levels.
What can you do if you have chronic inflammation?
- Address the diet
Foods can trigger inflammation. Foods like refined sugar, saturated fats, and trans fats can increase inflammation. Food intolerances can also increase inflammation and should be removed whilst reducing chronic inflammation and healing.
Specific diets can help reduce chronic inflammation. Of course, the most well-known is the Mediterranean diet. Then there are several anti-inflammatory diets. Including spices like turmeric and fruits like pineapple, papaya and kiwifruit can help reduce inflammation.
Omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in olive oil and deep sea fish are renowned for reducing inflammation.
- Exercise
Yes, I know if you’re already tired and experiencing aches and pains all over your body, the last thing you want to do is to get moving.
Yet, gentle exercises like stretching, yoga, and walking can help to reduce inflammation. Grab a friend and make it a social event.
Sometimes hitting it hard at the gym can increase inflammation, so start slow and build up.
- Regular rest and relaxation.
Scheduling that regular rest and recharge time. Look at active relaxation exercises like meditation, reading a good book or a massage to help.
- Fresh air and sunshine.
Get fresh air from nature to increase your oxygen content. This can help oxygenate the tissues and help remove inflammatory chemicals.
Sunshine is needed for the human body to produce Vitamin D. This vitamin influences 900 genes and plays a role in reducing inflammation. Studies have been performed on autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s and found that 4000IU-8000IU of Vitamin D supplemented daily over 8 weeks helped to turn off Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
- Stress management techniques.
Chronic stress can exacerbate inflammation. Therefore, finding strategies to help manage stress is vital to conquering inflammation.
If you have been diagnosed with a disease or are suffering symptoms that seem to continue over time, then look to identify and address chronic inflammation.
Want help in identifying chronic inflammation or want help conquering inflammation, make an appointment now.
