Chronic Inflammation can Damage your Brain and Body

Typically inflammation is an immune response mechanism. When an area of the body needs some attention from the immune system, inflammatory fluids are released to draw attention to that area. For example when you cut your skin or scrape your knee.

Inflammation itself is not all bad; it is your body’s defense system that protects the body against potential damage, from injuries, infections, oxidative stress and toxins. It’s part of your body’s innate immune response that promotes healing and recovery. It helps to repair tissue damage due to injury, helps you recover from colds, illness, or exposure to allergens and helps slow down aging.

The problem starts when inflammation becomes chronic. Chronic inflammation comes without warning. You don’t feel it’s coming until it's too late. Chronic inflammatory conditions are one of the number one contributors to chronic disease and death.

With excessive physical, emotional, and chemical stress your immune system becomes overwhelmed and it increases the inflammatory response.

Inflammation is at the root of practically all known chronic health conditions. This is because inflammation damages the body at the cellular level. Which means everything that relies on cellular health and normal cell function is suppressed.

This process can impact the entire body and create disease. It may eventually lead to tissue and organ damage resulting in a variety of chronic pain symptoms and health issues, including memory loss and cognitive decline, depression, cancer, heart disease, digestive dysfunction, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and autoimmune conditions.

How Inflammation Affects your Brain and Body

• Brain - Pro-inflammatory cytokines cause autoimmune reaction in the brain which can lead to poor memory, depression, autism, MS and Alzheimer’s

• Bones - Inflammation interferes with the body’s natural ability to repair bone mass increasing tendency to fracture leading to conditions like osteoporosis.

• Cardiovascular - Inflammation in the heart and arterial and venous walls contributes to heart disease, diabetes, strokes, and anemia.

• GI Tract - Chronic inflammation damages intestinal lining and can result in issues like Crohn’s disease, celiac disease or GARD.

• Kidneys - Inflammatory cytokines restrict blood flow to the kidneys resulting in edema, hypertension, nephritis and can result in kidney failure.

• Liver - Build up of inflammation leads to enlarged liver or fatty liver disease. Increased toxic load build-up in the body.

• Lungs - Inflammation induces autoimmune reaction against the linings of airways. Can result in allergies and asthma.

• Muscle - Inflammatory cytokines can cause muscle pain and weakness. Can manifest as carpal tunnel syndrome or widespread aching, stiffness and flu-like symptoms.

• Skin - Chronic inflammation compromises the liver and kidneys, resulting in rashes, dermatitis, acne, eczema psoriasis.

• Thyroid - Autoimmunity as a result of inflammation can reduce total thyroid receptor count and disrupts thyroid hormone function.

Fortunately, there are effective strategies to heal chronic inflammation and the conditions associated with it. If you are facing illnesses or health challenges that you have been dealing with for a long time with no promise of getting better, addressing underlying inflammation is truly the number one strategy to begin to overcome a chronic health challenge.