When you hear the word inflammation, what comes to your mind? Most people probably think inflammation is all about redness and swelling that follows an infection, wound, or injury. But this is only “acute inflammation” – a beneficial response by the immune system that encourages healing, and usually goes off once the injury improves. Chronic inflammation is another form of inflammation that is less obvious. While your immune system becomes activated, the inflammatory response stays on all the time at a low level. This is unlike the acute inflammatory response that is intermittent during an acute injury or infection. In other words, chronic inflammation may begin even when you have no injury. Worst still, it does not end when it should. Several factors could trigger chronic inflammation, from lifestyle factors such as poor sleep, obesity, or exposure to environmental toxins.