Chronic Inflammation

"Inflammation, inflammation, inflammation!! It has become quite the buzzword in human products advertised on television. The word 'inflammation' is mentioned in asthma medication commercials, pain medications and even in those targeting cardiovascular health. So what is the story and why all the hype?

The truth of the matter is that "inflammation" is a hot topic in research and in overall health. The process of inflammation is a complicated one, yet one that we are all familiar with to varying degrees. Have you ever stubbed a toe, hit your thumb with a hammer, pulled a muscle or experienced back pain? Unless you are a superhero, I am sure you have to some degree or another. Well, inflammation is a defense mechanism put out by our bodie's immune system to help protect us against infection and aid in the repair of injured or damaged tissue. So, let's pretend we hit our thumb with a hammer. First, we feel the pain, then we experience the swelling and maybe bruising. This is the inflammatory process at work, dilating blood vessels, signaling pain to the brain, recruiting white blood cells to clean up infection and to remove dead tissue. After a few days, the process is complete, swelling is reduced and the function of our thumb is fully restored. This in simplest terms is acute or short term inflammation.

The problem comes when the 'acute' inflammatory response becomes a 'chronic' or long term condition. In most cases, the inflammatory response only lasts a few days or until the tissue is healed, but in some cases the fire of inflammation can continue for weeks, months or even years. When the fire ceases to subside, continual tissue damage is done and signaling proteins that ramp up the immune system continue to be released. This chronic inflammatory response is very typical of long term injuries that fail to heal or fully recover such as tendonitis, arthritis and back pain. If the conditions continue to progress, further tissue damage and cellular function can be altered throughout the body resulting in many other diseases aside from typical injuries. It can weaken the body overall, resulting in predisposition to disease, infection and poor overall health.

Human research links 'chronic inflammation' with a host of diseases ranging from allergies, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, skin conditions and even cancer. So, with big name diseases such as these, there is a big push in the pharmaceutical industry to find answers. Take for instance cardiovascular disease and a baby aspirin regimen. Initially, the benefit was thought to occur secondary to the blood thinning effect (anticoagulant)that aspirin provided. This is true, but they have also discovered that the baby aspirin can help reduce overall inflammation within the body, which then can lower the incidence of cardiovascular disease and even cancer. Yes, I said CANCER. Google search aspirin and cancer and you will find that those that take a baby aspirin per day average a 20% reduction in various types of cancers. Hmmmm. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? This inflammation thing could be valid after all.

The problem with various anti-inflammatory prescription pain medications is that in most instances, they only target one arm or one part of the inflammatory pathway. Well, one part is better than nothing right? True...but we can do better. Our diets and food are the key, which is nothing new to the press. Foods hold magical medicinal values, some providing anti-inflammatory properties and other as anti-oxidants. Some foods, such as fried, actually contribute to the inflammatory process. Sort of like throwing fuel on the fire.

Herbs have unbelievable medicinal properties. You have to remember that over 70% of all prescription medications are formulated after herbs. Plants are the root of all that is good. Many herbs have potent anti-inflammatory properties such as curcumin, boswellia, green tea and ashwaghanda. The beauty is that they don't just approach inflammation from one arm, but are multi-modal and affect inflammation from different perspectives. They provide effective, broad spectrum type coverage that is not "overkill". Prescription medications can tend to be 'over-effective', reducing a natural response to nothing instead of just returning it to normal levels. This is why we tend to see ulcers and kidney failure as a result of certain prescription pain medications.

Don't get me wrong, prescription pain medications are wonderful and absolutely necessary in many instances, but can come with a price with long term use. Herbs are ancient technology that have been research supported to exhibit many health benefits not only for ourselves but also for our pets and horses. The results can be phenomenal.

All our best,

Tom Schell, D.V.M.