Inflammation
Inflammation is your body's response to irritation, infection, or injury. It's a defense mechanism that helps protect and heal damaged tissue. When something harmful or irritating affects a part of your body, there are biological reactions to try to remove it, as well as the start of a healing process for the affected tissues.
The main signs of inflammation include:
- Redness - This happens because blood vessels dilate, allowing more blood to flow into the area to bring in nutrients and cells that help fight infection and repair damaged tissue.
- Swelling - As part of the inflammatory response, small blood vessels leak fluid into nearby tissues, causing swelling. This helps isolate the area from further contamination or injury.
- Heat - More blood flows into the inflamed area, making it feel warmer to the touch.
- Pain - Chemicals released by damaged cells can activate nerves, making the area more sensitive. The swelling that happens can also put pressure on nerve endings.
Inflammation can be acute or chronic:
- Acute inflammation starts rapidly and becomes severe rather quickly. Its main signs are redness, swollen tissues, heat, pain, and loss of function. It may last a few days. This type of inflammation helps the body heal after an injury.
- Chronic inflammation lasts longer and arises when acute inflammation fails to resolve itself. This long-lasting inflammation can eventually cause DNA and tissue damage, setting the stage for diseases. It's tied to conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and neurological disorders.
The inflammatory process brings in proteins and cells that help the body fight off infection, clear out dead cells and irritation from the injury site, and start healing:
- White blood cells ingest bacteria and dead cells to clear the area.
- Blood clotting factors help repair broken blood vessels and prevent further blood loss.
- Clotting also provides the initial matrix for new tissue to grow.
- Growth factors stimulate cells to divide and rebuild damaged tissue.
By understanding exactly how inflammation works, researchers hope to find better treatments for conditions caused by chronic inflammation. The key is resolving acute inflammation before it turns into the harmful, disease-causing chronic variety. Ongoing research explores using specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) that help terminate the inflammatory process.