CAN INFLAMMATION BE A PART OF CHRONIC PAIN AND NOT BE CAUSED BY AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE?
A. Yes. Chronic back pain is the No. 1 reason adult Americans seek help from health-care practitioners. While it can originate from an injury or trauma to the back, chronic back pain can also occur from poor posture or the presence of abdominal fat. Once back muscles become strained, inflammation results and pain persists. Defects that develop in certain joints over time can lead to cartilage breakdown and is the root of osteoarthritis. Inflammation begins as the cartilage breakdown causing bones to rub against each other. Continual bone-on-bone friction creates significant pain, leading to deformities and loss of movement. Q. HOW CAN THE FOODS I EAT TRIGGER INFLAMMATION? A. Nutritional research has resulted in a much better understanding of how certain fats and oils react in our bodies. When we consume arachidonic acid from animal fats or trans fats from hydrogenated oils (unhealthy fats and oils), our bodies make “pro-inflammatory compounds.” These compounds can initiate the kind of
