Presently, there are two hot topics in medical literature regarding the development of disease.
One of these involves free radical damage.
The other is inflammation.
As free radical damage occurs and cells and tissues are damaged, the organism attempts to clear away the damaged cells.
In order to do this, various inflammatory pathways are activated.
- The body’s own cells are sent to the site of damage to "clean up".
- These cells release various chemicals that cause inflammation.
- The inflammation further destroys and liquefies the damaged tissue so it may be removed.
However, inflammation is never restricted only to the damaged cells but also spills over to involve surrounding healthy tissue.
Thus, inflammation, although designed for a specific task that is helpful, may actually cause harm itself.
In the medical literature, more research is being published regarding the limiting of oxidative stress and inflammation as a way of ultimately protecting functional tissue.