Fighting inflammation

Understand what causes your body to flare up and how to manage it

Nearly every part of your body can become inflamed. And despite how common inflammation is, it’s quite a misunderstood topic. Professor Harrison “Dr Harry” Weisinger, medical director at Truth Origins (truth origins.com.au), explains what inflammation is, why it occurs and different ways it can affect people.

HOW IT WORKS

“Put simply, inflammation is a natural process in which immune cells, such as white blood cells, proteins and fluid, are attracted to a site of injury or ‘insult’ within the body,” Dr Harry explains. “The purpose of inflammation is to protect the body from harm, or at least to protect it from any further harm.”

For example, if you twist your ankle, it quickly becomes swollen and painful. This is the body’s signal to start repairing the injury, and to keep you from walking on it!

WHEN IT GOES WRONG

“Inflammatory processes occur within our bodies every second, and without them we couldn’t survive,” Dr Harry explains. We can usually heal minor wounds, fight a cold or mend a pulled muscle with help from the inflammatory process.

“Our bodies constantly manage the balance between switching inflammation on and off,” says Dr Harry.

“However we run into trouble when that balance is disrupted and we get inflammation in places where it’s harmful to us.”

There are many inflammatory conditions that can chronically impact daily life. Some well-known examples are asthma, arthritis, coeliac disease, Crohn’s disease, heart disease and multiple sclerosis.

HOW IT AFFECTS WOMEN

There are some inflammatory conditions that only affect one gender – endometriosis in women and prostatitis in men. Women are also more susceptible to developing autoimmune diseases.

“It’s well recognised that ‘autoimmune’ diseases – where the immune system ‘attacks’ a part of the body – occur more frequently in women than in men,” says Dr Harry.

“Classic examples of this are Hashimoto’s disease

[in the thyroid gland] and coeliac disease [in the small intestine].”

He also notes that some conditions get better or worse with age. Crohn’s disease and colitis symptoms tend to improve from middle age, however arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease worsen over time.

REDUCING INFLAMMATION

“The single most important thing anyone can do is to pay attention to the signs of inflammation – and do everything they can to reduce it,” Dr Harry believes.

Some lifestyle factors that can help to reduce inflammation are getting adequate sleep and maintaining a healthy diet. “People who get less than seven hours sleep every night are far more likely to incur inflammatory consequences, such as weight gain and other metabolic problems,” Dr Harry notes.

“Eating a balanced and nutritious diet, while paying attention to reducing the intake of refined sugars and carbohydrates, can reduce inflammation.”

There are also plenty of studies supporting the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin (from turmeric) and omega-3 fatty acids, which can both be taken as supplements.