What causes inflammation?

When it comes to inflammation, many friends' first reaction is symptoms such as redness, swelling, and pain. That’s right, inflammation is what we usually call inflammation, and it is one of our body’s natural defense responses. In addition, it is closely related to infections such as bacteria and viruses, and even chemical factors. Therefore, if you have diseases such as inflammation, you should seek medical attention in time. So what exactly causes inflammation?

In fact, the types of diseases caused by inflammation are very diverse, including some gynecological diseases, vascular diseases, and even some liver and kidney diseases, etc. Therefore, if an inflammatory disease occurs, it is best to seek medical attention in time. So what exactly causes inflammation?

Inflammation is a very common and important basic pathological process. Traumatic infections on the body surface and most common and frequently occurring diseases of various organs (such as furuncle, carbuncle, pneumonia, hepatitis, nephritis, etc.) are all inflammatory diseases. The defensive response of living tissues with a vascular system to damaging factors is called inflammation.

Inflammatory manifestations

Inflammation: Inflammation is the defensive response of living tissues with a vascular system to damaging factors. Vascular responses are central to the inflammatory process.

Inflammation, which is what people usually call "inflammation", is a defensive response of the body to stimulation, which manifests as redness, swelling, heat, pain and dysfunction. Inflammation can be infectious inflammation caused by infection or non-infectious inflammation not caused by infection. Normally, inflammation is beneficial and is the body's automatic defense response, but sometimes, inflammation can be harmful.

During the inflammatory process, on the one hand, damaging factors directly or indirectly cause destruction of tissues and cells; on the other hand, inflammatory congestion and exudation reactions are used to dilute, kill and surround the damaging factors. At the same time, damaged tissues are repaired and healed through the regeneration of parenchymal and interstitial cells. Therefore, it can be said that inflammation is a unified process of damage and anti-damage.

What causes inflammation?

Causes of inflammation

Any factor that can cause tissue damage can be a cause of inflammation, that is, an inflammatory factor. They can be grouped into the following categories:

(1) Biological factors: Bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, mycoplasma, fungi, spirochetes and parasites are the most common causes of inflammation. Inflammation caused by biological pathogens is also called infection. Exotoxins and endotoxins produced by bacteria can directly damage tissues; viruses replicate in infected cells, causing cell necrosis; certain antigenic pathogens damage tissues by inducing immune responses after infection, such as parasitic infections and tuberculosis.

(ii) Physical factors: high temperature, low temperature, radioactive substances, ultraviolet rays, and mechanical damage.

(III) Chemical factors: exogenous chemical substances such as strong acids, strong alkalis, turpentine, mustard gas, etc. Endogenous toxic substances such as decomposition products of necrotic tissue and metabolic products that accumulate in the body under certain pathological conditions, such as urea.

(iv) Foreign bodies: Foreign bodies that enter the human body through various pathways, such as various metals, wood debris, dust particles, and surgical sutures, can cause varying degrees of inflammatory responses due to their different antigenicity.

(V) Necrotic tissue: Ischemia or hypoxia can cause tissue necrosis, which is a potential inflammatory factor. The congested hemorrhagic bands and infiltration of inflammatory cells at the edge of fresh infarction are manifestations of inflammation.

(VI) Allergic reaction: When the body's immune response is abnormal, it may cause inappropriate or excessive immune response, resulting in tissue and cell damage and leading to inflammation. Tissue damage caused by immune response is most common in various types of hypersensitivity reactions: type I allergic reactions such as allergic rhinitis and urticaria, type II allergic reactions such as anti-basement membrane glomerulonephritis, type III allergic reactions such as glomerulonephritis caused by immune complex deposition, type IV allergic reactions such as tuberculosis and typhoid fever; in addition, there are many autoimmune diseases such as lymphocytic thyroiditis and ulcerative colitis.

After reading about what causes inflammation, you friends have already understood. In fact, there are many causes of inflammation, which can be roughly divided into six categories, including bacteria, fungi and other viral infections, even some mechanical injuries, and even some necrotic tissues, etc., which may cause inflammation. Therefore, everyone should not be afraid to see a doctor. Timely treatment is the most important thing.