The Silent Flame of Inflammation
- Dr. Howard A. Friedman MD, founder of HHOM LLC
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
5-12-2025
By Dr. Howard Friedman MD | Veteran | U.S. Army Medical Corps | Internal Medicine | HHOM LLC
The Silent Flame
It does not shout.
It does not scar the skin.
It burns beneath, in tissue and thought
,A fire fed by stress, by sugar, by silence.
Unseen, it sculpts disease from within
.But even silent flames can be extinguished—
If we dare to notice. If we choose to act.
In my previous blog, I spoke about the relentless weight of external stress—its causes, its consequences, and the steps we can take to lessen its grip. Today, I turn inward, to a force even more insidious: internal stress. In the medical world, we call this inflammation. It is the silent flame that burns beneath the surface of countless diseases, often unnoticed until serious damage is already done.
Inflammation is the common thread that weaves together much of the chronic illness we see today. It is no exaggeration to say that inflammation lies at the nexus of tissue damage, internal scarring, organ failure, and even DNA degradation. It quietly raises the risk of heart attacks, strokes, cancer, type 2 diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer’s disease, osteoarthritis, and significant mental health conditions. Autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, eczema, and psoriasis are also fueled by inflammatory processes. Even chronic fatigue and sleep disorders are often tied back to this internal, smoldering fire.
For a detailed discussion on the mechanism of inflammation and its widespread effects on the body, I invite you to review this important article from Frontiers in Medicine: The Mechanisms of Inflammation and Disease. It drives home a hard truth: inflammation is not just an occasional nuisance—it is a major driver of human suffering and disease.
The next question is blunt and inescapable: How does chronic inflammation take root?Some of it, frankly, is a matter of chance—exposures and injuries we may not have chosen. Veterans, for example, who served near burn pits or were exposed to toxins know this reality all too well. Certain infections can ignite an inflammatory cascade, and metabolic conditions like obesity create a chronic, inflammatory state throughout the body. Imbalances in the gut microbiome—a newer but well-recognized contributor—further fuel the fire.
Yet, there is no hiding from the fact that many causes of chronic inflammation are within our control. Lifestyle choices matter. Smoking, no matter the substance, feeds inflammation. A poor diet—especially one high in processed foods—stokes the fire (for a deeper dive, see my blog on [The Preventive Power of Nutrition]). Poor sleep habits (addressed in our blog on [Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Sleep Health]) and unmanaged stress (covered in [The Pressure We Live Under]) also drive internal damage over time.
The Cleveland Clinic offers an excellent overview on how inflammation silently erodes health: Understanding Inflammation.
The bottom line is this: we know what inflammation does, and we largely know how to prevent it. That knowledge is both a burden and a blessing. It means the responsibility to act rests with us. It is easier to drift along, to hope the silent flame does not reach us. But hope is not a plan. Action is.
At HHOM LLC, my mission is to help you take informed, decisive action to safeguard your health. On my website HHOMLLC.com, you’ll find all my blogs discussing topics like nutrition, sleep, stress management, and preventive health strategies. You are also welcome to reach out directly through the "Ask Dr. Howard" feature on the site. One question can be the beginning of a healthier, stronger path.
—Dr. Howard Friedman MD
Board-Certified | Internal Medicine | Veteran | U.S. Army Medical Corps
Founder of Howard’s House of Medicine (HHOM LLC)
Q: What exactly is internal inflammation, and how is it different from a normal immune response?
A: Inflammation is the body’s natural defense mechanism against injury or infection. When you cut yourself or catch a virus, your immune system triggers a temporary inflammatory response—redness, swelling, heat, and pain—to contain and repair the damage. But internal (chronic) inflammation is different. It’s subtle, persistent, and often silent. There are no overt signs. It simmers below the surface, mistakenly targeting healthy tissues even when there's no clear threat. Over time, this “silent flame” erodes the body from within, contributing to conditions like heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune disorders, and even cancer.
Q: What causes chronic internal inflammation to develop in the first place?
Q: . Can internal inflammation be reversed—or is the damage already done?
Q:
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