Chronic Inflammation, Causes, Risks

Chronic inflammation can have long-term and whole-body effects. Chronic inflammation is also called persistent, low-grade inflammation because it produces a steady, low-level of inflammation throughout the body, as judged by a small rise in immune system markers found in blood or tissue.

Low levels of inflammation can be triggered by a perceived internal threat, even when there isn’t a disease to fight or an injury to heal, and sometimes this signals the immune system to respond. As a result, white blood cells swarm but have nothing to do and nowhere to go, and they may eventually start attacking internal organs or other healthy tissues and cells.

For example, chronic inflammation has been linked to heart disease and stroke according to American Heart Association. Cancer is another disease linked with chronic inflammation. Over time, chronic inflammation can cause DNA damage and lead to some forms of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. Anything that causes inflammation will cause the DNA of a cell to replicate faster. The more your cells replicate, the higher chance you have of cancers developing.

Chronic, low-grade inflammation often does not have symptoms but one can test for various inflammatory markers in blood test. Besides looking for clues in the blood, a person’s diet, lifestyle habits and environmental exposures can contribute to chronic inflammation.

It’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle to keep inflammation in check, more importantly following an anti-inflammatory diet.

Causes of chronic inflammation:

The reason inflammation becomes chronic isn’t always apparent. It may be caused by

Lack of exercise and proper diet
Lack of sleep and experiencing a lot stress
infections that don’t go away
eating a lot of sugary foods, fried foods, baked foods
eating processed and packaged foods with added preservatives, artificial colors and flavors
certain conditions like obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure
habits like smoking and drinking alcohol,
environmental exposure to pollutants and toxins