How inflammation affects the body

Here is a nice little infograph showing all the ways inflammation can affect the body from the team over at Live Love Fruit. 

Inflammation is a process by which the body's white blood cells and chemicals protect us from infection with foreign substances, such as bacteria and viruses. Or with tissue injury. We all know inflammation on the surface of the body as local redness, heat, swelling and pain. It is the cornerstone of the body's healing response, bringing more nourishment and more immune activity to a site of injury or infection. All this is great. It means inflammation is good, even if how you came to be inflamed in the first place wasn't so wonderful.

In some diseases, however, the body's defense system - the immune system - triggers an inflammatory response when there are no foreign substances to fight off and no injury has occurred. In these diseases, called autoimmune diseases, the body's normally protective immune system essentially loses its shit, becomes a dark mercenary and thinks your entire body is an enemy of which to stage a jihad.

I consider myself extremely fortunate that none of my organs are affected by my condition. Aside from the occasional flare up of Uveitis (inflammation of the eyes) when I'm over-tired or stressed, the inflammation I experience is limited to a few periphery joints. Ankle, hands, fingers, elbows. But this is also why I'm monitored very closely by The General and his team.

BigLove x

I finally found something that explains exactly how I feel

I have SpA.

The only difference between SpA and RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis) is with SpA, it can't be detected by a blood test. That just means SpA in me, was harder to diagnose.

The only difference between RA and JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis) is when the symptoms began. As a child or an adult.

There are no other differences. All these variants, are essentially the same thing.

I finally found something that explains exactly how I feel.

So many people do not understand. Can't ever truly understand, and I would never ever want them to. If you know me at all, or even if you don't, and found yourself here anyway. I ask of you. Please share this video or post in anyway way you can. Morgan, she is me. Her story as it's playing out, is mine too.

Making a difference through awareness may not feel like much. But it is still making a difference.

BigLove x