When your body fights an infection, you get a fever.
If you have arthritis, you will have pain in your joints. If a bee stings your hand, your hand will swell and become hard. these are all expressions inflammation Happens in the body.
We are two immunologists who study how the immune system responds during infection, vaccinationAnd autoimmune diseases where the body starts attacking itself.
While inflammation is usually associated with the pain of a injury Or it can lead to many diseases, it is an important part of the normal immune response. Problems arise when this normally helpful function overtakes its reception or is exhausted.
What is swelling?
Generally, the term inflammation refers to all activities of the immune system that occur when the body is trying to fight off potential or actual infectionsClear toxic molecules or recover from physical injury.
There are five classic physical symptoms of acute inflammation: warmth, pain, redness, swelling and loss of function.
Low-grade inflammation may also not produce noticeable symptoms, but the underlying cellular process is the same.
Take bee stings, For example. The immune system is like a military unit with a variety of equipment in its arsenal.
After sensing toxins, bacteria, and physical damage from a sting, the immune system deploys a variety of immune cells to the site of the sting. These include T cells, B cells, macrophages, and neutrophils, among other cells.
Inflammation is a double-edged sword (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)
B cells produce antibodies. they Antibodies Can kill any bacteria in the wound and neutralize toxins from the sting.
Macrophages and neutrophils surround the bacteria and destroy them. T cells do not produce antibodies, but kill any virus-infected cell to stop the viral spread.
Additionally, these immune cells produce hundreds of types of molecules called cytokines – otherwise known as mediator – which helps in fighting threats and repairing damage to the body. But like a military attack, swelling comes with collateral damage.
The mediators that help kill bacteria also kill some healthy cells. Other similar mediator molecules cause blood vessels to leak, leading to fluid accumulation and an influx of more immune cells.
This collateral damage is the reason you develop swellingRedness and pain around a bee sting or after getting a flu shot. Once the immune system clears an infection or foreign invader—whether a venom in a bee sting or a chemical from the environment—different parts of the inflammatory response help repair the damaged tissue.
After a few days, your body will neutralize the venom from the sting, eliminating any bacteria that get inside and any tissue that has been damaged.
Inflammation as a Cause of Disease
Inflammation is a double-edged sword. it’s important to fight infections and repair of damaged tissue, but when inflammation occurs for the wrong reasons or becomes chronic, the damage it causes can be harmful.
For example, allergies develop when the immune system mistakenly recognizes harmless substances – such as peanuts or pollen – as dangerous. Damage may be minor, such as itchy skinOr dangerous if one’s throat is closed.
Chronic inflammation damages tissues over time and can lead to a number of non-contagious clinical disorders, including heart disease, neuro-degenerative disorders, obesity, diabetes and some types of cancer.
The immune system can sometimes mistake its own organs and tissues for invaders, causing inflammation throughout the body or in specific areas.
This self-targeted inflammation causes symptoms of autoimmune diseases such as lupus and arthritis.
Another cause of chronic inflammation that researchers like us are currently studying is a defect in the mechanism that reduces inflammation after the body has cleared the infection.
While inflammation mostly plays out at a cellular level in the body, it is far from a simple mechanism that occurs in isolation. Stress, diet and nutrition, as well as genetic and environmental factors, have all been shown to control inflammation in one way or another.
There is still much to be learned about what causes harmful forms of inflammation, but a healthy diet and avoiding stress can go a long way in helping to maintain the delicate balance between a strong immune response and harmful chronic inflammation. could.
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