This series of reviews addresses mechanisms whereby inflammation can be reduced, turned off or perhaps prevented, both in the context of natural dampening processes as well as possible approaches to anti-inflammatory therapy. Underlying the central issue is the implication that inflammation is indeed something inherently bad that needs to be dampened. Although this is certainly often the case and it can be argued that most human disease processes include some element of inflammation, nevertheless, inflammation is also natural, beneficial and, indeed, essential. This balance and its possible manipulation is a second theme running through the reviews.