What is Inflammation?

The complexity of inflammation is often overwhelming. It is only now that chronic inflammation is becoming appreciated as the underlying cause of chronic disease.

There are actually two phases of inflammation. The first phase is the initiation phase that causes the heat, pain, swelling, and redness associated with inflammation from ancient times. However, there is a second phase called the resolution phase that reverses the initiation phase and allows tissue regeneration. As long as these two phases of inflammation are balanced, this becomes the molecular definition of wellness. If either phase is unbalanced, then we generate a state of low-level chronic inflammation that ultimately leads to loss of function. This inability to manage chronic inflammation can be used as a molecular definition of aging.