Understanding and Managing Chronic Inflammation

Many patients come to me with a conventional medical diagnosis but aren’t satisfied with the resulting treatment. In the case of an autoimmune condition (such as hypothyroid, diabetes, pre-diabetes, obesity, or even skin issues), it’s almost a 100 percent certainty that inflammation in present in the body. And when that happens, it’s my job is to dig deeper to identify and treat the underlying cause.

Inflammation is natural and often even healthy; it is part of the body’s response to injury or infection. Chronic inflammation is not!

Chronic Inflammation

You twist your ankle, get stung by a bee, or contract an infection, and you are likely to experience some swelling as the body pumps blood, fluid, and other supplies to the damaged area to rid the body of any harmful agents and repair damaged tissue. The swelling — inflammation — causes pain, which is also normal, though unwelcomed. This acute pain and swelling typically subsides over the course of a few days, but it can linger for weeks. The good news is that it eventually goes away.

Chronic inflammation develops over a much longer period of time, it is less clearly connected to any physical injury or infection, and it lingers for months or years. It can contribute to a wide variety of health issues, including Continue reading…