Inflammation: what causes it, cardinal signs, and natural approaches to deal with inflammation

What causes inflammation?

Inflammation is not as evil as its made out to be. It is completely natural! It is your body's way of protecting itself from anything harmful or irritating such as chemical irritants, any damaged cells, or pathogens. Inflammation is your body telling you that it's trying to heal itself from a harmful stimuli.

Of course, inflammation is only good to a limited extent. Acute inflammation is GREAT for your body to increase blood flow to the area and fight the harmful stimuli. However, chronic inflammation may prove to have negative consequences as the accumulation of chemicals and by-products of the inflammatory response may cause stress to your body, which may, in turn, impede in your immune function.

Cardinal signs of inflammation

The easiest way to remember the cardinal signs of inflammation is:  
Inflammation caused by a SHARP needle.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflammation

Swelling
Heat
A loss of function
Redness
Pain

The more superficial the inflammation is, the more of the cardinal signs you will see. But remember, just because you don't see all of the signs does not mean that inflammation is not present.


Dealing with inflammation...naturally!

1. To decrease inflammation after an acute injury make sure you remember PRICE
• If you don't know or remember what PRICE is, check out "The Infamous Ankle Sprain" post to find out!
2. Contrast Hydrotherapy
• Simply alternating hot and cold applications to the inflamed area. 
• The cold application will decrease chemical reaction speeds thus slowing down the inflammatory response. 
• The hot application will increase blood flow to the injured area and help speed the healing process
3. Botanicals
• There are SEVERAL constituents that have anti-inflammatory actions, such as tannins, salicylic acid, and flavones. 
• Plants that have anti-inflammatory actions include Calendula (Calendula off.), Chamomile (Chamomilla recutita), and Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Inflammation and Curcumin

Curcumin (the active constituent found in turmeric) has been the "up-in-comer" for the treatment of inflammation. According to Satoskar, a double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial on post-operative patients found that curcumin was more effective than phenylbutazone and placebo in the treatment of post-operative inflammation (2004).

Recently, there has been extensive research in the biological activities and pharmacological actions of turmeric and its constituents (i.e. curcumin). Here are two papers that have been published about the anti-inflammatory action of curcmin:

• Anti-inflammatory Properties of Curcumin, a Major Constitutent of Curcuma Longa 
• Turmeric and Curcumin: Biological actions and medicinal applications

Sources:

1) Satoskar RR, Shah SJ, Shenoy SG. Evaluation of anti-inflammatory property of curcumin (diferuloyl methane) in patients with postoperative inflammation. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther Toxicol 1986;24(12):651-54.  Cited in Mills S, Bone K. Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy: Modern 

How do you deal with inflammation?
 
What are your thoughts about the anti-inflammatory actions of Curcumin discussed in the papers?

Comment below!