Blog article

" Arthritis is the swelling and tenderness of one or more joints. The main symptoms are joint pain and stiffness, which typically worsens with age". Mayo Clinic

Sounds familiar! There are over 100 different types of arthritis as a result of joint degeneration, injury, autoimmune disorders or metabolic disorders. I am going to talk about Osteoarthritis a degenerative disease and by far the most common. Once we are diagnosd with arthritis we assume we will have permanent pain and we will not be able to physically function properly and we can get anxious too. But there are ways to help counteract this belief and treatments that can help.

We have cartilage in our joints and to keep the cartilage healthy over our lifetime we need to do the following:

• Drink at least 2L of water a day to prevent dehydration and thus destruction of cartilage. 
• Chondrocytes are found in cartilage and are responsible for creating cartilage. 
• To keep these chondrocytes productive the joint needs activity such as walking, tennis, swimming, dancing etc and load in the form of weights or orthobionomy massage to maintain normal cartilage structure and function. Inactivity of the joint has been shown to lead to degradation of cartilage. 
• Make sure bones are aligned correctly. and muscle strength is even.

Treatments 

In the medical line of drugs there are many that you will know and use such as:

• Panadol osteo
• Non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs such as Mobic and Neurofen. There are side effects which you have to be very aware of. 
• Platelet-rich plassma(PRP) which is injected into the joint to help ease pain and inflammation. 

In the herbal medicine area there are:

1. Anti inflammatory herbs such as Boswellia, Cucurmin, Devils Claw and Guiacum resin in combination with celery seed which helps to remove fluid around the joint and other herbs that improve circulation to the joint.
2. Fish oils - anti inflammatory in nature
3. PEA - a new compound to help reduce pain,inflammation and swelling in the joint.

Non drug treatments include:

• 150 mins per week of moderate to vigorous exercise, - which includes strengthening, walking/running, cardiovascular and balancing exercises
• Weight loss
• Massage, physio, chiro, osteopath
• Exercise physiology, Pilates

Exercise gets fluid and blood to the joints and muscles. 

Diet

An anti inflammatory diet is the best one to have, such as the Mediterranean diet. This includes lots of vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit and fish and small serves of red meat. Inflammatory foods are mostly found in packets such as cakes, pastries, chocolate, sweets and also too much red meat and cheese. 

As a matter of interest " People with osteoarthritis were twice as likely to describe their health as 'poor', among those aged 45 and over" - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Even if osteoarthritis is the only issue, this belief will lead to poorer health overall.

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