Dr. Holly Fourchalk - Inflammation: The Silent Killer

INFLAMMATION The SilentKiller HollyFourchalk, PhD., DNM, RHT, HT CHOICESUNLIMITED FOR HEALTH AND WELLNESS SmashwordsEdition Copyright 2014 Choices Unlimited for Health and Wellness Tel:604.764.5203 Fax:604.465.7964 Website: www.choicesunlimited.ca E-mail: Editing,Interior Design and Cover Design: Wendy Dewar Hughes, Summer BayPress ISBN:978-1-927626-32-0 Digital ISBN:978-1-927626-33-7 This ebook islicensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not bere-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to sharethis book with another person, please purchase an additional copyfor each recipient. If youre reading this book and did notpurchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then pleasereturn to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you forrespecting the hard work of this author. *** DISCLAIMER Every efforthas been made by the author to ensure that the information in thisbook is as accurate as possible.

However, it is by no means acomplete or exhaustive examination of all information. The authorknows what worked for her and what has worked for others but no twopeople are the same and so the author cannot and does not renderjudgment or advice regarding a particular individual. Further,because our bodies are unique any two individuals may experiencedifferent results from the same therapy. The authorbelieves in both prevention and the superiority of a naturalnon-invasive approach over drugs and surgery. The informationcollected within comes from a variety of researchers and sourcesfrom around the world. This information has been accumulated in theWestern healing arts over the past thirty years.

Research hasshown that one of the top three leading causes of death in NorthAmerica occurs because of the physician/pharmaceutical component ofthe scenario. Perhaps thereal leading cause of death and disability is a result of the lackof awareness of natural therapies. These therapies are well knownto prevent and treat many common degenerative, inflammatory andoxidative diseases. The authorloves to research and loves to teach. This book is another attemptto increase awareness about health and the many options we have tobring the body back into a healthy balance. Ever-increasingnumbers of people are aware of healing foods and herbs, supplementsand modalities but there are still far too many who are not.

Thefact that our physicians are part of this latter group makeshealing even more challenging yet we are now seeing more and morelaboratories around the world and more universities in and outsideof the U.S. studying herbs, nutrition and various healingmodalities with phenomenal success. The unfortunatefact is, those who can profit from sickness and disease promoteignorance and the results are devastating. It is not theintent of the author that anyone should choose to read this bookand make decisions regarding their health or medical care based onideas contained in this book. It is theresponsibility of the individual to find a health care practitionerto work with to achieve optimal health. **** To myParents For all theirsupport and encouragement My Dad for hisever-listening ear My mother forher open mind **** INDEX **** Introduction to theInflammation-Immune-Gut systems Did you knowthat your inflammatory system, immune system and gut system areintimately interconnected? Did you knowthat your body is constantly provoking and eliminatinginflammation? Did you knowthat it is estimated that about 98% of doctor visits are actuallydue to functional medicine and most of that has to do with theinflammatory response? Did you knowthat the inflammatory response is an important part of your immunesystem? Did you knowthat the microbes in your gut can and do alter your DNA, yourchromosomes, your genes? Did you knowthat the inflammatory response is an important part of your bodyscomplex biological response to a wide variety of situations? Did you knowthat simply lying down on a bed and breathing will break thesmallest of the arteries (arterioles) and cause an inflammatoryreaction? Did you knowthat inflammation is a complex biological response to harmfulstimuli, like pathogens, damaged tissues or cells? Did you knowthat if your immune system were not functioning well, yourinflammatory response mechanism would go awry? Did you knowthat about 90% of your immune system is in your gut? Did you knowthat the immune system is the cause of allergies? Now, how did weget from inflammation to the immune system to the gut? Well, letstake a look at how they are all interconnected, how they can goastray, and how we can resolve the problem. **** The InflammatoryResponse Most of us havehad an experience of inflammation. **** The InflammatoryResponse Most of us havehad an experience of inflammation.

Whether as a child falling off abike or out of a tree, or as an adult slipping, falling or someother kind of an accident, we have all experienced a booboo. We are usuallyfamiliar with the classical signs of inflammation: Pain Heat Redness Swelling But did youknow that the inflammatory response is the bodys way of protectingyou, getting rid of a harmful stimuli, and initiating a healingprocess? The initialinflammatory response is called an acute response. Hopefully, it isshort lived and resolved effectively. Unfortunately, too many timesit is not and for a wide variety of reasons. If theinflammatory response process is not effectively resolved, we endup with chronic, ongoing, unresolved inflammation. Whether this isa chronic inflammation or a subclinical inflammation it can causelong-term damage.

There are several reasons this may occur. It is thisprolonged chronic inflammation that is usually the concern inalternative medicine. Severaldysfunctions in the body are inflammatory in nature. Theseinclude: Asthma Bursitis Celiac disease Crohns disease Diverticulitis Gastritis Gingivitis Laryngitis Otitis Polymyalgia rheumatic Rheumatoid arthritis Tendonitis Other diseasesmay not be inflammatory in nature, but rather have an inflammatorycomponent, for instance: Alzheimers Atherosclerosis Cancer Diabetes mellitus Obesity Chronicinflammation can be subtle, or subclinical, i.e., you can have itfor years and not even be aware of it. For instance, you may have abone break that never fully healed, or an infection that neverfully healed. You may have metal or other chemical toxicities thatkeep accumulating and the body cannot eliminate them.

Thats whenthe inflammation becomes a subclinical inflammation that is neverresolved but continues to cause a host of other problems. You may havechronic inflammation that you are well aware of but experiencing adifficult time resolving, such as, rheumatoid arthritis,atherosclerosis, hay fever or even cancer. All have an inflammatorycomponent. MDs will usually give you prescriptions, many of whichare addictive, to attempt to manage the symptoms but nothing toresolve the underlying issues. Whether you areaware of the inflammation or not, unresolved inflammation can bedangerous. So lets look at the inflammatory response a little morecarefully.

With this nextpart, you want to understand the general concepts. You are notgoing to be tested on these terms. You do want an overallunderstanding of the different types of roles each component playsin the system. Wheninflammation is initially stimulated, a huge number of substancesand systems like to get involved and we dont want to leaveanything out. Lets start with the blood your vascularsystem. Your vascularsystem is comprised of all the blood vessels in your body.

Oxygenated blood leaves the heart through the aorta and iscarried through the arteries throughout your body. Veins carry the toxins and C02 back to the heart and lungs,entering the heart through the vena cavae. The average adult has about 5 6 quarts (4.7 5.7 liters) ofblood in his or her body. The blood consists of: o Red bloodcells carry oxygen (through the body) and C02 (out of the body) o White bloodcells (immune cells) o Plasma oPlatelets The blood orvascular system is very involved in the inflammatory responsemechanism. The blood carries a large number of compounds identifiedas the biological cascade of molecular and cellular signals thatboth trigger and resolve the inflammatory response. At the site oftrauma, injury or infection, blood cells will release molecularsignals that provoke a number of changes in the area: 1) Vasodilation expansion of the arteries allowing for: Increased blood flow Vascular permeability meaning the artery walls loosen up toallow various compounds to pass through and help theprocess Exudate: proteins and antibodies permeate through the bloodvessels into the affected area Then the immunesystem gets involved: 1.