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Inflammation

Inflammation is a complex biological process in which the body’s white blood cells and chemicals provide protection from infection and foreign substances, such as bacteria, yeast, and viruses and some chemicals. It is a protective attempt by the body to remove the injurious substance and to initiate the healing process for the tissue. As such, inflammation is part of the regenerative process. Without inflammation, wounds and infections would never heal and there would be progressive destruction of tissues. The goal is not to stop inflammation, but to restore normal inflammatory processes.

In some conditions, however, the body’s immune system inappropriately triggers an inflammatory response when there are no foreign substances to fight off. In these autoimmune situations the body’s normally protective immune system causes damage to its own tissues. The ability of the immune system to cause too much inflammation, and actually damage tissue instead of helping it heal, is why the inflammation process must be tightly regulated by the body.

Again, the goal is not to stop inflammation, but to restore normal inflammatory processes. The biological processes of the immune system which maintain the normal inflammatory processes are heavily regulated by cytokines - signaling proteins and glycoproteins involved in cellular communication. 

The Effects of Abnormal Inflammation

The five clinical characteristic signs of inflammation are redness (Latin rubor), heat (calor), swelling (tumor), pain (dolor), and loss of function (functio laesa). Excessive or chronic inflammation also result in increased biomarkers of inflammation, which are also associated with increased morbidity and mortality.