Yahoo Sports 5 Signs You Have Inflammation in Your Body
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If you’ve ever experienced a red bug bite, a swollen sprained ankle or a fever, you’re familiar with inflammation. But you could also have low-level inflammation quietly lurking in tissues and wreaking havoc in your body for years. Inflammation is complex both in the ways it can manifest and how it can be treated. “It was first described in the first century and has been known to underlie disease for centuries,” says Katherine C. MacNamara, PhD, a professor in the department of immunology and microbial diseases at Albany Medical College, who studies inflammation. “It is also known to be essential for life.” To understand when inflammation is appropriate, and when it can be the clue to bigger health problems, it’s important to know the signs of inflammation and how to treat it.
What is inflammation?
“Inflammation is your body's immune response to infection or injury,” says Robert Dolansky, DO, MBA, an American Osteopathic Association board-certified osteopathic physician and the chief of urgent care and occupational medicine at St. Luke’s University Health Network in Pennsylvania. “It’s a reaction from your white blood cells to enter the blood or tissues to protect your body from toxic invaders or injured tissue.” Essentially, we need inflammation to help our bodies heal and regenerate.
Because inflammation can happen pretty much anywhere in your body, there are different substances that may be involved in different situations. “Key early proteins involved in inflammation include TNF (tumor necrosis factor), IL-6 (interleukin 6) and IL-1b (interleukin-1 beta),” says MacNamara. “They are sometimes called acute phase proteins and can impact many different tissues. They can tell the bone marrow to make more immune cells, regulate body temperature to drive fever and act as a signal to activate other cell types.”
Types of Inflammation
Inflammation generally falls into two categories: acute and chronic.
Acute inflammation
“Acute inflammation is a temporary period of inflammation, and the defining feature is that it resolves,” says MacNamara. “It is typically more intense and noticeable but calms down or goes away on its own.” Acute inflammation typically lasts only a few days to a few weeks, such as in the case of a common cold or an injured ankle. “I tell patients that acute or short-term inflammation has positive traits because it's the body's natural mechanism to protect injured tissue and fight off infection,” adds Dr. Dolansky.
Chronic inflammation
“Chronic inflammation is often slightly lower magnitude, but it is persistent and does not go away or resolve,” says MacNamara. It may arise from a long-lasting infection (like with the hepatitis C virus), exposure to chemical irritants or pollution, an autoimmune disease (such as lupus), genetic abnormalities, poor diet or aging. When inflammation sticks around for several months or years, it can impair your quality of life and contribute to other health problems, including cancer.
Signs of inflammation
There are five hallmark signs of inflammation:
Swelling: lump, bump or enlarged area
Redness: can be caused by an allergen
Heat: an affected area feels warm when touched
Pain: can be constant or just when the area is touched
Loss of function: difficulty moving a joint, an infection in the lungs, immobility
However, chronic inflammation isn’t always easily noticeable. “This type of inflammation underlies the development of many different diseases that progress somewhat more slowly like cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease,” says MacNamara.
How is inflammation measured?
“Inflammation is not always easy to measure,” says MacNamara. “Some metrics are more obvious — like fever or obvious swelling and redness. Chronic low-grade inflammation is more difficult to measure.” Your doctor may check the levels of C-reactive protein, fibrinogen or circulating antibodies in your blood as well as your complete blood count (CBC) which measures the amount of each cell type in your blood, she explains. “Other tests to measure proteins involved with inflammation are not as easily done and more expensive,” says MacNamara. “For example, there are assays to measure factors like TNF or IL-1b, but they are costly and not routine.” Unfortunately, we are still lacking accurate and accessible ways to evaluate all instances of inflammation.
Treatment
It really depends on the root cause of the inflammation. “For acute inflammation, you want to treat the underlying infection or injury,” says Dr. Dolansky. “Chronic inflammation requires treatment of the underlying chronic medical conditions.” These are some of the treatments your doctor may suggest for lowering inflammation:
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
Ibuprofen or aspirin can help by blocking a key enzyme involved in the production of leukotrienes and prostaglandins, but they shouldn’t be used long-term as they can lead to indigestion, stomach ulcers and liver or kidney problems.
Histamine blockers
They limit the production of histamine, the substance that causes vasodilation and recruitment of leukocytes that contribute to swelling, itchiness and mucus production in allergic reactions.
Steroidal drugs like corticosteroids (dexamethasone)
“They are important for short-term use in serious inflammatory disorders, but are not typically prescribed for long-term as they suppress the immune response,” says MacNamara.
Biologic medications
These antibodies target and block TNF and other cytokines. “The cost-benefit of these has to be carefully evaluated as they have serious side-effects, such as increased susceptibility to infections,” says MacNamara. Other medicines such as metformin and statins may also be used to address inflammation in specific scenarios.
Supplements
In the form of vitamin A, C and D, fish oil, turmeric, garlic and ginger also have anti-inflammatory properties, notes Dr. Dolansky. “However, you should discuss all supplements that you take with your physician,” he says.
Prevention
Your goal shouldn’t be to prevent inflammation entirely because your body depends on it for healing, but you can do things that may lower your odds of developing chronic inflammation. For starters, quitting smoking and avoiding pollutants can help. On top of that, you may want to take a look at your diet. Processed carbohydrates, sugar and omega-6 fatty acids are some foods that contribute to inflammation while omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish and some seeds) quell it, says MacNamara. “A low-glycemic diet is thought to be ideal for minimizing chronic inflammation,” she adds. Regular exercise can also help.
When to see a doctor
It depends on what you’re dealing with. Obviously, if you have something like a broken arm that’s swollen you want to see a doctor right away, but other instances of inflammation can be trickier to identify and treat. “If you have a cold, rash, skin wound or musculoskeletal injury that doesn't resolve with home remedies in five to 10 days, you should seek medical attention for causes of acute inflammation,” says Dr. Dolansky. “For chronic inflammation, you should seek medical attention for long term pain or discomfort in your joints, muscles, stomach or if you are having reflux issues. If you have unexplained weight loss, weight gain or obesity along with any mood disorders, sleep disturbances or persistent fatigue, it’s time to see your physician.”
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