How To Create A Plan To Treat Chronic Inflammation
There are 2 types of inflammation:
- Acute Inflammation - which is caused by and necessary for your body to survive injuries, illness, and infection. It works quickly once an infection starts and typically lasts a relatively short time, as it fights to help heal your body.
- Chronic inflammation - which is not needed for your health and well-being, is inflammation (usually low-grade), that, if not treated, can last up; to years, and isn't caused by one specific thing. It develops over time and is caused by such things as: poor lifestyle choices, poor diet, exposure to environmental toxins and chronic stress, and can be extremely harmful to your body.
Where can Chronic Inflammation affect your body?
If you have a chronic health condition, inflammation is probably is at it's root. It can affect almost every part of your body.
- Depression, Poor memory, Autism, Alzheimer's
- Cardiovascular system
- Heart disease, Stroke, Anemia, Diabetes
- Allergies, Asthma
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Weakness and Pain
- Edema, Kidney Failure, Hypertension
- Osteoporosis, Increase risk of fractures
- GI Tract
- Gerd, Chron's Disease, Celiac Disease
- Enlarged liver, Fatty liver
- Eczema, Acne, Rashes, Dermatitis, Psoriasis
The importance of getting tested...
When you consider the damage that chronic inflammation can do to your body, you'll probably agree that it's very important to get tested for inflammatory markers, or indicators, to help identify what changes need to be made in order to return you to good health again.
Your Functional Medicine Doctor can help you create a plan that is personalized to only you once he has tested for inflammatory markers. This plan may include changes to lifestyle and diet. Twelve of the top markers that should be tested for are:
- HS-CRP - tests the CRP protein in your liver
- HbA1C - tests blood sugar imbalances
- Red Blood Cell Width - detects development of red blood cells
- Fasting Insulin - also testing blood sugar imbalances
- Homocysteine - an amino acid in your blood that, if elevated may indicate cardiovascular problems
- Liver Enzymes - checking the enzyme levels may help detect liver or gallbladder issues
- Vitamin D3 - low levels of this vitamin can indicate, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease
- Lipid Panel - tests may indicate clogged arteries or other cardiovascular problems
- Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio - measures the inflammation stress levels that may be affecting your health
- LDH - testing the levels of this enzyme to see if they are elevated can indicate liver problems
- ESR - a common blood test looking for inflammation
I specialize in functional medicine, if you are experiencing chronic pain, or you're not happy with the health you're in...a comprehensive blood test could help identify your problems - Contact Me to schedule your Free consultation.