pathophysiology
Last reviewed 01/2018
Essentially, chronic inflammation is caused by one of two means:
- a persistent inflammatory stimulus:
- intracellular organisms e.g. tuberculosis
- immune reactions against host tissue which is treated as being foreign e.g. rheumatoid arthritis
- foreign substances which cannot be degraded e.g. asbestos
- ineffective inflammatory mechanisms:
- absent or disordered inflammatory cells e.g. Chediak-Higashi syndrome
- absent or disordered inflammatory mediators e.g. hypogammaglobulinaemia
- global deficits e.g.:
- poor nutrition
- old age
- immunocompromise e.g. AIDS