Inflammation is the body's response to illness, injury, or infection. It's the signal to the immune system to fight off viruses and bacteria. Without inflammation, a small wound could turn into an infection and cause serious illness.
Symptoms
Inflammation has a range of symptoms. Here are just a few:
- Redness
- Joint pain/stiffness
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache
- Energy loss
Inflammation is broken down into two types, acute or chronic.
Acute inflammation occurs when you get a cut or a scrape. It's a short-term response to an area of the body and only lasts for a few hours or days.
Chronic inflammation is long-term and can last months or years while affecting the whole body.
Why Is It Important?
Inflammation is a tricky process because, on one hand, your body needs to fight off foreign bacteria and viruses. It's how it heals itself. On the other hand, when inflammation continually occurs or triggers the response when there is no foreign body, damage to tissues, and the development of other diseases can arise.
Some examples of conditions linked to chronic inflammation include:
- Diabetes
- Asthma
- Heart disease
- Rheumatoid arthritis
It's been long thought that chronic inflammation may provide a role in the development of cancer. Inflammation may damage DNA or produce molecules that mistakenly take oxygen and nutrients to growing tumors.
Chronic inflammation can damage the body over time, leading to serious diseases and illnesses. Detecting inflammation early can help you adapt to a new lifestyle that will reduce your risk of developing chronic inflammation and severe health problems down the road. Thermography is a great tool at detecting inflammation as the process generates heat that is easily detected by the sensitive thermal camera.
Reduce your risks of developing chronic inflammation by changing your lifestyle and diet. Make sure to include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, along with curbing sugar intake should be at the top of your list. Exercising and managing stress are also important in starting a healthy lifestyle.
If you're concerned about inflammation or looking for more information, the staff at CT Thermography is here to help.
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to schedule an appointment.