Special edition: Inflammation
Inflammation is a bodily force for good (usually)
Inflammatory responses are designed to excite the body's defense systems to battle and recuperate infections and injuries.
Temporary swelling and irritation can be side-effects of the process as the immune system invades affected areas.
But for many people something has gone awry in the supposedly temporary inflammatory response, leading to a more permanent form of inflammation that has been linked a host of other maladies.
More sophisticated chronic inflammation research in the past 20-30 years has linked it to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, osteoporosis, cognitive decline, cancer and Alzheimer's.