Benzos offer short-term anxiety relief, as Parker Posey's character shows, but what is the real cost of long-term use?
Inflammation is one of your body's defense mechanisms when it comes under attack.
We see this in action when the skin around a wound turns red. This is the body's inflammatory response attempting to isolate and destroy any invading elements!
The body responds with inflammation in a wide variety of ways. You can experience it through joint pain or gastric distress.
It can be caused by both physical and mental factors such as infections or stress.
When the body senses one of these triggers it releases protein cells called cytokines to cause the inflammation response. These cells can be measured to assess the level of inflammation in the body.
There is growing evidence that inflammation has an acute effect on how we feel, mentally and physically.
Luckily there's a great deal of research on inflammation underway. Interesting results have already been discovered in relation to several mental illnesses.
Immunotherapy is a treatment against disease where the immune system is either activated or suppressed. It's commonly used to treat cancer or allergies.
Childhood trauma has been linked to the development of inflammatory issues later in life.
Stress at a young age is linked to gut inflammation, which can cause a whole host of mental and physical issues.
It appears that stress hormones directly affect the balance of bacteria in the gut.
This inflammation can eventually spread to other parts of the body like the brain and increase vulnerability to a number of illnesses.
A few examples include ADD, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, IBS, arthritis, Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
One study tested the guts of two groups of children. The group of children who had a stable childhood had a much healthier, diverse gut than those who didn't.
The Gut-Brain-Axis was discovered in the 1960s, confirming that our minds and our stomachs are closely linked! This had been understood instinctually for centuries.
Research into this has grown exponentially in the past decade and the results are eye-opening.
The gut and the brain are connected by the largest nerve in the body, called the vagus nerve. This nerve provides a two-way communication pathway between the gut and the brain.
The gut influences so many systems in the human body that it has become known as 'the second brain.'
This is called the mind-body approach to health. It's based on the most recent research that shows us that the health of one directly affects the health of the other.
The equilibrium of the gut can be affected by stress, diet, or infections, all of which trigger the inflammation response.
Do you often feel tired and achy for no reason? Almost like you have a flu coming on but it never develops? Or perhaps you frequently have an upset stomach or symptoms of IBS? These are common ailments that most people suffer from but never really know the source of. If you're someone who frequently feels unwell without any clear reason, you may be a victim of inflammation.
We normally expect inflammation to occur only when the body's defense system is triggered by some sort of infection or allergen, but in reality stress or poor diet are enough to get it going. Understanding inflammation may be the first step to improving your quality of life tenfold. Click through this gallery to learn more.
Inflammation could be the source of all your health problems
It has now been linked to a range of physical and mental health issues
HEALTH Immune system
Do you often feel tired and achy for no reason? Almost like you have a flu coming on but it never develops? Or perhaps you frequently have an upset stomach or symptoms of IBS? These are common ailments that most people suffer from but never really know the source of. If you're someone who frequently feels unwell without any clear reason, you may be a victim of inflammation.
We normally expect inflammation to occur only when the body's defense system is triggered by some sort of infection or allergen, but in reality stress or poor diet are enough to get it going. Understanding inflammation may be the first step to improving your quality of life tenfold. Click through this gallery to learn more.