Dr Shilpa Ravella, a transplant gastroenterologist, argues that inflammation may be a common factor in many of the diseases we face today from heart disease to cancer.

While our bodies' inflammatory response is essential in fighting off infections and viruses,  in her recently published book A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet and Disease,  Shilpa claims many of us are suffering from hidden low inflammation which may be at the root of many illnesses and reveals simple lifestyle changes we can make to reverse this.

And one of the many surprising facts she reveals is that most so-called anti-inflammatory pain killers such as ibuprofen although they may suppress inflammation initially, actually delay the resolution of inflammation in our bodies. It turns out that one of the oldest pain killers of all - aspirin -  is one of the very few painkillers which does help resolve inflammation.

Dr Shilpa Ravella is a transplant gastroenterologist with a particular expertise in nutrition and an assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.

Her Book: A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet and Disease is published by Bodley House, an imprint of Vintage.

The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director.  You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com

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