Inflammation is a normal bodily function; more specifically it is a healthy action when controlled. Without inflammation we would not recover from day to day activity. Inflammation is the first step in the healing and repair process; it prevents the spread of damaged cells to other areas of the body and gets rid of damaged and dead cells within the body. Inflammation plays a major role in one’s health as well as disease.
In order for me to have gotten an understanding of inflammation based on class notes and further research, I applied it to daily scenarios. The first thought that came to my mind with regard to acute inflammation was a “pimple” after being burst. I recognize this as being acute inflammation as the clinical signs only lasted a few hours, these clinical signs include the sensation I experienced of pain, heat, swelling, redness and the feeling of numbness (loss of function) as seen in fig.1. According to my understanding the inflammation occurs due to tissue damage as a result of pressure applied while squeezing the pimple, the body then reacts by its natural response to the injury. This response is characterized by vasodilation an increased vascular permeability (fig.2) leading to the accumulation of fluids and plasma proteins, predominantly neutrophilic leukocytes, resulting in inflammation (oedema) around the site of injury. “The inflammatory process protects our body from damage and disease by releasing cells and mediators that combat foreign substances and help prevent infection as well as initiation of tissue repair” a simplified illustration of these events are shown in fig. 3. During the inflammatory process which took place with the pimple, regeneration of parenchymal cells occurred simultaneously which promoted healing. The pimple is just one of many examples of acute inflammation.
According to my understanding all inflammation occurring in the body starts off as acute inflammation. Sometimes though, the body fails to end an inflammation cycle which then results in the occurrence of chronic inflammation. For a better understanding of chronic inflammation I decided to use rheumatoid arthritis as an example.
Rheumatoid arthritis is caused when there is a defect in one’s autoimmune system response. This means that the body fails to heal itself because it recognizes it’s self as foreign, resulting in the body’s normally protective immune system damaging its own tissues resulting in extensive inflammation. When joint inflammation occurs, the increased number of cells and inflammatory substances within the joint cause irritation, wearing away cartilage and cause swelling of the joint lining, hence there is no healing that take place due to the persistence of the inflammatory cycle. Fig. 4 demonstrates excessive cartilage damage due to Rheumatoid arthritis.
Setting of chronic inflammation is not only by autoimmune disorders such as the above mentioned example, but also by viral infections, persistent microbial infections and prolonged exposure to potentially toxic substances. Basically any agent or cause that prolongs the duration of inflammation may lead to chronic inflammation which is also usually associated with disease.
In conclusion my understanding of the role of inflammation is to defend the body by means of increased fluid which results in swelling to protect injured areas from further harmful agents as well as rid the body of damaged and dead cells while in the process of healing itself. Although the body tries its best to heal itself it is not always successful in doing so, these same inflammatory elements can also be deadly to the body when the inflammatory cycle continues too long, a condition known as chronic inflammation. In general, acute inflammation can be seen as beneficial to one’s health, whereas chronic inflammation can lead to life threatening diseases.
REFERENCES:
- Rippey J.J. General Pathology 1985. Witwaterstrand University Press. JHB
- Underwood J.C.E. General and Systemic Pathology, 2009, 5TH ed. Chirchill Livingstone
- Acute inflammation, American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons
http://www.lakeviewhealth.org/upload/docs/Acute%20Inflammation.pdf
- Inflammation and Health
http://inflammationfactor.com/
- Avalon Laser Health
http://www.avalonlaserhealth.ca/inflammation-its-role/
- HOPES. About Inflammation
https://www.stanford.edu/group/hopes/cgi-bin/wordpress/2011/06/about-inflammation/
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