Inflammation – Dealing With It Safely
Inflammation is the body’s reaction or defense to an injury, infection, or irritation and has now been accepted as a non-specific immune response. The word inflammation is derived from the latin “inflammare” – meaning to set on fire. Inflammation has 2 classifications, chronic and acute.
So what causes inflammation? When it occurs, the body’s white blood cells release chemicals into the blood stream where it goes to the affected area or areas in an attempt to rid the body of foreign material or substances. The body may first think there is an infection present, bacteria, parasites, or a virus. Many times we associate inflammation to an injury, arthritis, fibromyalgia, but it may also affect organs such as the heart, kidneys, intestines, and lungs (asthma). It can run the spectrum from mild and irritating to severe and life threatening.
Inflammation has now been found to be at the root of almost all sickness and major disease on a cellular level. I can include flu like symptoms such as chills, fever, muscle stiffness, loss of appetite, headaches and fatigue.
The most dangerous inflammation now known is chronic low grade inflammation that we don’t see or feel, in other words, no symptoms! There is a test available called a C-Reactive Protein Test, available from your doctor. I should be able to soon offer an inexpensive home lab test for this, details soon. Many doctors don’t test for this because if the results are negative, there is nothing viable to prescribe. This low grade inflammation has been associated with heart disease, and may be a more important factor than cholesterol levels, where cholesterol lowering drugs are easily prescribed. I will cover this in great detail soon, as I have been listening to doctor’s lectures on the subject and sorting through the data.
In general, two types of prescription drugs may be prescribed for inflammation, drugs containing steroids for severe inflammation or asthma or NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – naproxen, aspirin, ibuprofen etc.) These may be prescribed with other drugs depending on the root cause of the inflammation.
The problem with anti-inflammatory drugs is this: It has to do with COX inhibitors. Blocking the COX 2 inhibitor has been shown effective in reducing inflammation and is desirable. Blocking COX 1 is not desirable and is associated with negative side affects from anti-inflammatory drugs such as internal bleeding, and in severe cases, kidney damage and blood clots. To my knowledge, there are no anti-inflammatory drugs on the market which effectively block COX2 but not COX1. Celebrex is still on the market and is claimed to be an effective Cox2 inhibitor, but it’s safety may be in question. There are new TV commercials now regarding Celebrex, covering all the potential health hazards, (CYA) the commercials are lengthy (must be costing them a fortune), notice the soothing music in the backround? Hhhmmm.
Can you guess? The active chemical compounds in the mangosteen fruit and pericarp or rind have shown in lab tests to effectively block the COX2 inhibitor and not the COX 1 inhibitor, a powerful solution to fighting inflammation, very exciting indeed!
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