Understanding The Impact of Inflammation

By: Dr. Beth Templin
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Inflammation is a term that’s gaining more and more attention due to it’s negative impact on our health. To better understand it, you should know that not all inflammation is bad. There are two types of inflammation, acute and chronic. 

Acute inflammation is a normal healing process triggered by a “serious” threat such as an infection or injury. It activates our immune system to fight off the infection or heal the injury. Ideally, once the threat has been dealt with, the body releases anti-inflammatory signals and returns to normal.

This is different from chronic inflammation, which is triggered in one of two ways. The first is that the body does not release anti-inflammatory signals after healing is completed. As a result, we get stuck in the inflam-mation phase, which begins to cause damage to the body.
The second way to trigger chronic inflammation is by exposure to “non-serious” threats. Some of the most common causes of chronic inflammation include conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis, as they involve the immune system mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues.

Long-term exposure to environmental pollutants, industrial chemicals, or smoking can contribute to persistent inflammation. Chronic stress can have a significant impact on inflammation, as it may affect the immune system and lead to an increased inflammatory response. Lifestyle is a major contributor to chronic inflammation. This includes poor diet, especially one high in processed foods, sugars, and fats. Lack of exercise, poor sleep habits, poor hydration and smoking can also be factors. Excess body fat, especially visceral fat, the excess fat around your organs, can produce inflammatory chemicals, contributing to chronic low-level inflammation in the body.

The consequences of uncontrolled chronic inflammation are numerous.

• Cardiovascular Disease: Chronic inflammation can contribute to the development of atherosclerosis and other heart diseases.
• Diabetes: Inflammation plays a role in insulin resistance and the development of type 2 diabetes.
• Cancer: Persistent inflammation can increase the risk of certain cancers by promoting cellular changes and tumor development.
• Neurodegenerative Diseases: Conditions like Alzheimer’s disease may involve chronic inflammation affecting the brain.
• Chronic Pain: Chronic inflammation is a key factor in pain issues lasting longer than 3 months as the healing process does not get turned off. 

At HouseFit, we recognize the impact chronic inflammation can have on your health and independence as you age. It’s why we offer a multi-pronged approach to decrease inflammation.

• Physical Therapy & Fitness Options to help increase your physical activity. Regular exercise helps to regulate the immune system, increase blood flow to remove inflammatory cells and reduce the stress hormone cortisol.
• Plant-Based Nutrition to help with weight loss, especially fat loss which contributes to inflammation. A plant-based diet is also full of anti-inflammatory foods which further decrease inflammation.
• Regenerative Therapy to target the inflammation in any painful area of your body. EMTT is able to push out inflammation at the cellular level, providing relief in just a few weeks.
• Not sure what you’d benefit from? Take advantage of a Free Consultation with our expert team at 314-939-1377.

-🩷 Dr. Beth