Inflammation: What You Need To Know

What is inflammation?Inflammation is your body’s response to an illness, injury or something that doesn’t belong in your body (like germs or toxic chemicals). Inflammation is a normal and important process that allows your body to heal. Fever, for example, is how you know your body’s inflammatory system is working correctly when you’re ill. But inflammation can harm you if it occurs in healthy tissues or goes on for too long.When an invader (like a virus) tries to enter your body, or you get injured, your immune system sends out its first responders. These are inflammatory cells and cytokines (substances that stimulate more inflammatory cells). These cells begin an inflammatory response to trap germs or toxins and start healing injured tissue. Inflammation can cause pain, swelling or discoloration. These are signs your body is healing itself. Normal inflammation should be mild, and pain shouldn’t be extreme.But inflammation can also affect parts of your body you can’t see. Inflammatory...