What is Inflammation

Inflammation Protective response of the body to cell injury to remove the noxious stimulus that caused the injury in the first place. It is usually followed by repair and regeneration after the injury, provided that the tissue was not severe enough to cause cell death (necrosis). Inflammation is a life sustaining mechanism to help the body cope during and just after an injury but inflammation often prevents proper regeneration and repair.

The classical signs of acute inflammation are pain, heat, redness, swelling, and loss of function. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process. Inflammation is not a synonym for infection, even though the two are often correlated (the former often being a result of the latter), and despite the fact that words ending in the suffix itis (which refers to inflammation) are sometimes informally described as referring to infection.

(For example, the word urethritis means only "urethral inflammation", but, because most cases are caused by infection, even healthcare providers may tell a patient "it means you have an infection.") Although infection is caused by a microorganism, inflammation is one of the responses of the organism to the pathogen. Inflammation can even occur in the absence of infection, although such types of inflammation are usually maladaptive (such as in atherosclerosis).

Inflammation is a stereotyped response, and therefore it is considered as a mechanism of innate immunity, as compared to adaptive immunity, which is specific for each pathogen.

Progressive destruction of tissue in the absence of inflammation would compromise the survival of the organism. On the other hand, chronic inflammation might lead to a host of diseases, such as hay fever, periodontitis, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and even cancer (e.g., gallbladder carcinoma). It is for that reason that inflammation is normally closely regulated by the body.

Acute or Chronic if the noxious stimulus persists.

Acute inflammation lasts for minutes to days while chronic inflammation may persist from days to years.

Chronic inflammation may persist long term as seen in many chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and should be treated if there is no direct threat to living tissue.

What Causes Inflammation ?