New Buzz Word: Inflammation, What Is It?

Everyone’s talking about inflammation and how bad it is……. but, do you know what it is, really? Here is a great article about it and how your diet can help reduce it. 

 

In broad terms, inflammation is the body’s immune system’s response to a stimulus.This can be in response to common injuries such as burning your finger, or falling off of a bicycle, after which you feel the affected area become red, warm, and puffy- this is a localized response to injury, characterized by ‘increased blood flow, capillary dilation, leucocyte infiltration, and production of chemical mediators.’In short, an inflammatory response means the innate (non-specific) immune system is ‘fighting against something that may turn out to be harmful.’

Having Trouble Controlling Unwanted Thoughts? It might not be your fault.

A recent study, “Hippocampal GABA enables inhibitory control over unwanted thoughts (Schmitz, Correia 2017),”  has shown a link between the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus in inhibiting unwanted thoughts. Previously thought to be the sole work of the prefrontal cortex, researchers have found that an overactive hippocampus can derail the brains ability to suppress unwanted thoughts. If this hypothesis is supported, it can mean a complete change in the way we treat mental health issues like PTSD, schizophrenia, depression and anxiety disorders.

Read the full article here.

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