What is inflammation, its associated diseases, symptoms, and causes?

What is inflammation, its associated diseases, symptoms, and causes?

Inflammation is a process by which the body’s white blood cells and substances they produce protect us from infection with foreign organisms, such as bacteria and viruses. However, in some diseases, like arthritis, the body’s defense system — the immune system — triggers an inflammatory response when there are no foreign invaders to fight off. In these diseases, called autoimmune diseases, the body’s normally protective immune system causes damage to its own tissues. The body responds as if normal tissues are infected or somehow abnormal.

What Diseases Are Associated With Inflammation?

Some, but not all, types of arthritis are the result of misdirected inflammation. Arthritis is a general term that describes inflammation in the joints. Some types of arthritis associated with inflammation include the following:

Rheumatoid arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis
Gouty arthritis
Other painful conditions of the joints and musculoskeletal system that may not be associated with inflammation include osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, muscular low back pain, and muscular neck pain.

What Are the Symptoms of Inflammation?

Symptoms of inflammation include:

Redness
Swollen joint that’s sometimes warm to the touch · Joint pain · Joint stiffness
Loss of joint function
Often, only a few of these symptoms are present. Inflammation may also be associated with general flu-like symptoms including:

Fever
Chills
Fatigue/loss of energy
Headaches
Loss of appetite
Muscle stiffness

What Causes Inflammation and What Are Its Effects?

When inflammation occurs, chemicals from the body’s white blood cells are released into the blood or affected tissues to protect your body from foreign substances. This release of chemicals increases the blood flow to the area of injury or infection, and may result in redness and warmth. Some of the chemicals cause a leak of fluid into the tissues, resulting in swelling. This protective process may stimulate nerves and cause pain.

The increased number of cells and inflammatory substances within the joint cause irritation, swelling of the joint lining and, eventually, wearing down of cartilage (cushions at the end of bones).

How Are Inflammatory Diseases Diagnosed?

Inflammatory diseases are diagnosed after careful evaluation of the following:

Complete medical history and physical exam with attention to:

The pattern of painful joints and whether there is evidence of inflammation
Presence of joint stiffness in the morning
Evaluation of other symptoms
Results of X-rays and blood tests

The contents of this article are shared from WebMD.

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