Understanding Inflammation and Its Effects on the Body

Inflammation is the body's natural response to injury or infection, characterized by redness, swelling, heat, and pain in the affected area.
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Inflammatory Diseases | Anti-Inflammatory Diet | Inflammation Reduction Techniques | Inflammatory Response | Reduce Inflammation
Prepared by Shruti Sahoo, reviewed by Dr. Eugene Smith

Inflammation FAQ


Image credit: healthjade.net

Does inflammation mean infection?

Inflammation does not necessarily mean that there is an infection, but an infection can cause inflammation. When the body detects damage or pathogens, the immune system triggers a number of reactions: Tissues accumulate plasma proteins, leading to a buildup of fluid that results in swelling.

What is inflammation & why is it important?

What Is Inflammation? Inflammation is a process by which your body's white blood cells and the things they make protect you from infection from outside invaders, such as bacteria and viruses. But in some diseases, like arthritis, your body's defense system -- your immune system -- triggers inflammation when there are no invaders to fight off.

What is inflammation & how does it affect your health?

Very generally speaking, inflammation is the body’s immune system’s response to an irritant. The irritant might be a germ, but it could also be a foreign object, such as a splinter in your finger. This means that an inflammation doesn’t only start when, for instance, a wound has already been infected by bacteria, is oozing pus or healing poorly.

What is inflammation & how does it affect the body?

Inflammation is part of the process by which the immune system defends the body from harmful agents, such as bacteria and viruses. Acute inflammation is triggered by injury, infection, or exposure to substances, and presents itself as pain, redness, swelling, loss of function, and heat.

What is the most important feature of inflammation?

The most important feature of inflammation is the accumulation of white blood cells at the site of injury. Most of these cells are phagocytes, certain “cell-eating” leukocytes that ingest bacteria and other foreign particles and also clean up cellular debris caused by the injury.

Inflammation References

If you want to know more about Inflammation, consider exploring links below:

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