What is Inflammation?

Inflammation is the body's natural healing response to any infection or injury. However, prolonged inflammation can lead to chronic diseases. Read this microblog to learn more!

Prasoon Srivastava

8/19/2026

Whenever you get an infection or suffer an injury, the body releases chemical messengers to initiate the defense mechanism ( inflammatory response) to heal itself.

The blood vessels around the affected body part make it easier for inflammatory cells, fluids, and white blood cells to reach the area to help heal and prevent the infection from spreading further.

Fever, swelling, and redness are signs that the body is trying to heal itself through an inflammatory response.

Inflammation is necessary for the body to heal, but if it persists without injury or infection, it can damage healthy tissues and organs and increase the risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Types of Inflammation

There are two types of inflammation.

1. Acute Inflammation

Acute inflammation is short-duration inflammation due to sudden injury or illness; it lasts for a few hours to a few days. If you get a cut on your knee, inflammatory cells will rush to the injured area to help heal it, resulting in acute inflammation.

Similarly, a sore throat and a bacterial infection in the intestine result in acute inflammation in the throat and intestine, respectively.

Pain, swelling, and heat are symptoms of acute inflammation.

2. Chronic Inflammation

When inflammatory cells remain active even in the absence of injury or illness, this leads to chronic inflammation. In chronic inflammation, the body's immune system starts damaging its healthy tissues and organs.

Chronic inflammation can last for months and years and cause long-term cellular and tissue damage, which can lead to diseases like type-2 diabetes, heart issues, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.

Joint pain, fever, skin rash, chest pain, fatigue, depression, and anxiety can be symptoms of chronic inflammation.