Did you know that all around the world, 3 out of every 5 people die from an illness that is related to inflammation?
Persistent inflammation can turn into a silent killer contributing to cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and playing a key role in other conditions such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and even Alzheimers.
Originally, the body’s auto-immune system uses inflammation as a solution. For example, an inflammation may help the body get rid of a perilous and risky invader. Such an invader could be an infectious organism or a chemical toxin or another irritant. If the inflammation persists and does not “turn off” when it should, this can become the problem, In this case the inflammation becomes chronic.
How does chronic inflammation develop?
There are various ways in which chronic inflammation may develop. One reason may be if the body does not manage to eliminate the “invader” which kicked off the original inflammation. As a general rule, our immune system is pretty efficient at expelling such invaders. However, sometimes these can resist even our best defences. instigating repeated inflammations.
Another possible cause for chronic inflammation is when the body seems to attack itself for no apparent reason. In this case, the immune system will not be functioning correctly and will attack the body’s healthy cells and tissue, damaging the body instead of healing it.
Lifestyle choices that are unhealthy can also result in chronic inflammation. If you smoke, do not exercise regularly, or have an unhealthy diet with a high amount of refined carbohydrates, you are very likely to develop recurrent inflammation that increases the risk of many diseases.
What are the symptoms of chronic inflammation?
When you have acute inflammation, the symptoms are obvious. However, the signs of chronic inflammation are not as obvious and may be widespread, or restricted to a specific area in your body.
Due to this variety, the symptoms are also likely to vary considerably and may include: lack of energy and fatigue; anxiety and depression; pains and aches in muscles and joints; diarrhea and / or constipation; changes in appetite and in body weight; headaches and a fuzzy mental state.
There are many drugs available to ease the symptoms of chronic inflammation. These range from simple aspirin to much more sophisticated drugs that promise more targeted treatment of the symptoms. You may also be able to avoid pharmaceuticals to some extent and fight inflammation in a more natural and organic way.
#1: Eat to beat inflammation. You must be careful about this because many “anti-inflammatory diets” are not grounded in science so please make sure you get your information on what foods to eat from a RELIABLE source.
#2: Move! Surprisingly little aerobic exercise will lower your inflammation levels.
#3: Manage your weight. Abdominal fat produces chemicals that kickstart inflammation and working to reduce this and the levels of sugars in your diet can very quickly contribute to reducing your chronic inflammation.
#4: Get some zzzzz’s. If you are not sleeping enough, you will suffer from lack of energy. Apart from this obvious symptom, lack of sleep also contributes to increased inflammation.
#5: Kick the fags. If you stop smoking you will realise that inflammation will fall dramatically in just a few short weeks.
#6: Limit the bevs. Alcohol is a double-edged sword, as a little alcohol may be beneficial, but then too much will be of significant harm. It is therefore key to get the balance right to avoid increasing the level of your inflammation.
#7: Chill. Prevailing stress can set off the development of inflammation and cause flare-ups of problems like rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, depression and inflammatory bowel disease. It is therefore important to learn how to manage your stress.
Chronic inflammation is a serious condition and the sooner you incorporate these seven strategies into your life, the better!
Quality of life is determined by your health. Regular medical and blood screening is key for such diagnosis and we recommend annual screening tests for effective diagnosis to ensure that you can maintain your quality of life.
If you would like information contact us today on +356 21221355, 9985 2404 or send an email on info@clinipath.com.mt for more information.
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