Meet The New “Silent” Killer

Here is a great article By Kevin DiDonato MS, CSCS, CES on Inflammation.

There is a NEW silent killer in town.  Its name is INFLAMMATION.  You have run into it before, maybe once or twice.

Redness, itchiness, and swelling are tell-tale signs you have met and experienced inflammation first hand.Classic Tell-Tale Signs Of InflammationImagine for a minute, walking through the woods and brushing up against a bush of poison ivy.  Itching, redness on your skin, and HIVES which last for DAYS!Or getting stung by a bee, the reaction causing raised red marks on your skin, making your skin itch and burn for hours!

Or even yet, twisting your ankle and feeling the cuff around your ankle as blood and fluid fill your ankle cavity.

You have THEN experienced some of the classic symptoms of INFLAMMATION.

Most of the time, you rub some crème on the area, or give it a cold ice bath to soothe the burning, itchy feeling.  Inflammation can be useful but only to a CERTAIN EXTENT.  When you suffer an injury, or are inflicted with an allergen, your body sends a response to speed the healing process.

When you sprain your ankle, finger, or knee, there is instant swelling.  This is the beginning of the inflammatory response.  Your body is sending cells to the injured area, in hopes of healing the wounded area.  What happens, though, when there are NO SIGNS or SYMPTOMS of inflammation?

What happens when your body keeps sending the inflammatory response?
Damage!Inflammation and Damage - Not just damage to the injured area, but to all cells in the body.  You need to keep inflammation in control or else the cells in YOUR body CAN be damaged!  When the inflammatory response does not subside, it creates havoc in ALL the systems of the body.  But do you always know if your body is inflamed?  Not unless it’s blatantly obvious!

The NEW Silent Killer - Chronic inflammation is often referred to as the “silent” killer.  Yes, you have heard this term before, especially with heart disease.  But inflammation is also a SILENT KILLER!  Give me a minute to explain.  Chronic inflammation rarely is painful and rarely do you ever show symptoms that YOUR very cells are INFLAMED!

Imagine the amazing heat of a fire, how the heat and the flame destroy everything in their path.  Imagine now, that the same fire is in YOUR BODY!  Do you think that fire is going to be put out on its own?  Do you think that it’s not going to STOP and not destroy “stuff” in its deadly path?

You would be correct in saying that IT WON”T!

Chronic inflammation impedes the body’s ability to repair and heal tissue.   Your body always tries to repair and replace damaged cells.  When you are exposed to chronic inflammation, IT MAKES IT HARDER for YOUR body to heal damaged cells!  Can this silent killer cause pain?  Not usually.

How Can You Tell - Chronic inflammation falls below the pain threshold, making it impossible to detect.  But damage to certain cells can cause long lasting, and even INTENSE pain.  Chronic inflammation can target cells of the central nervous system, altering the cells that affect your pain centers.  Altering these cells can increase pain intensity, how long the pain lasts, and also HOW SENSITIVE YOU ARE TO PAIN!

This is something you want to avoid at all costs! - Chronic inflammation not only damages cells in your body, but it damages the cells OUTSIDE your body as well.  The cells in your skin can be damaged as well, speeding up the AGING process.

You DON”T need any help speeding up how fast YOU age!

There are numerous diseases linked to chronic inflammation.  Diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome are classic examples of low grade, chronic inflammation processes.  But there are others.  And each one can be detrimental to YOUR health.

Here are some diseases linked to chronic inflammation which is present in YOUR body:

• Acute and Chronic Pain
• Cerebrovascular Disease (strokes and poor circulation to the most vital organ, YOUR BRAIN)
• Cancer
• Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative diseases
• Type II Diabetes
• Autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, irritable bowel syndrome, and ulcerative colitis)
• Allergies
• Pulmonary disease
• Sarcopenia
These diseases have been linked by one common thread- chronic inflammation!

Your body does not want to be exposed to a constant fire all the time.

Have you ever stood next to a bonfire for hours?  Of course not, the fire can burn too intensely, forcing you to step away because of the intense heat from it!  The same holds true for your body.

What Your Body Thinks! - It does not want to be exposed to chronic inflammation for long periods of time.  Your body always wants to maintain a level of HOMEOSTASIS, or the perfect atmosphere in which the body is able to function.  However, due to numerous things in the food we eat and the air we breathe, our bodies are unable to fight off all the different toxins.  These toxins are the accelerant to the flames, keeping the fire of inflammation burning for long periods of time.

Keeping the constant “fire” CAN lead to complications later on in life!

There are ways to manage inflammation.  Some natural, and some use anti-inflammatory medications.  However, these have problems too.  Anti-inflammatory medications can damage the liver and kidneys, when you are exposed to them for long periods of time.  And the natural ways:  To take in all the right nutrients to extinguish the fire, you would be eating A LOT of fruits and vegetables and this is very, VERY EXPENSIVE!  You are talking hundreds of dollars a month.

You need to be aware of this silent killer which is taking home in YOUR body right now.  Inflammation is nothing to joke about, and certainly not something to take lightly.


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