Glucosamine Arthritis

August 21, 2008

Glucosamine has been studied for more than 40 years in humans and has been used in prized thoroughbred horses, cats, dogs and even exotic animals. When it comes to safety, some clinical studies have reported more side effects in a sugar pilled placebo than with Glucosamine. Glucosamine is found naturally in the body and is a natural nutraceutical product.

Thousands of people have used Glucosamine, and many have found it extremely effective to not only effectively ease their arthritis-related joint pain, but to also to provide them with more than just long term relief. Clinical studies have shown that Glucosamine causes re-growth of cartilage, slows the progression of joint deterioration, and possibly even modify the disease itself with almost no side effects.

A knee jerk reaction when you have mild pain or a headache or the like is to turn to a bottle of your favourite over the counter medication, such as aspirin or ibuprofen. The New England Journal of Medicine says that anti-inflammatory drugs alone cause over 16,500 deaths and over 103,000 hospitalizations per year in the US.

Everything from stomach bleeding to intestinal damage to liver failure can be caused from the long term use and interactions with what are known as NSAIDS, or Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs. Glucosamine not only safely and effectively eases the joint discomfort of arthritis while working to do something that NSAIDs cannot do – rebuilding of cartilage. Don’t just treat the symptoms and cover up the pain. Get more at the root of the problem and don’t neglect your body in an attempt to wrap up the pain.

In the U.S., baby boomers are doing just that at a rate of 300,000 per month. Even if you have not reached 50 yet, it is important to take steps now to slow down the effects of arthritis. Arthritis has no cure and will not get better on its own, but a daily regimen of Glucosamine can help to keep your joints strong and maintain your cartilage for years.

Also, when planning to take Glucosamine for arthritis, one should need to check the bottle properly. If it is Glucosamine Sulfate as a salt, then it is likely that up to 30% or more of the Glucosamine is being bound up in salts. The manufacturers can legally claim the dosage as listed on the bottle but the active, available amount of actual Glucosamine is going to be much smaller than the reported dosage.

Generally these deceptive but unfortunately legal practices are widely prevalent in very cheap and inexpensive glucosamine products, but one should be aware that they get what they want, and more so when it comes to vital things like these.

Arthritis

August 20, 2008

Arthritis is not a glamorous disease. It does not get the headline attention like cancer, heart disease or diabetes. Yet arthritis accounts for more doctor visits, more lost workdays than any other rheumatic disorder, including back pain and is more disabling than heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hip fractures, or lung disease. The cumulative effects of decades of use and misuse leads to degenerative changes in joints. This damage is further compounded by a decreased ability by the body to repair joint structures, much of which can be attributed to poor nutritional status.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects the lubricating mechanism and cushioning of joints. It is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the joints and other parts of the body. Bone surfaces are destroyed and the bones fuse together creating stiffness, swelling, fatigue and crippling pain.

Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, results primarily from a progressive degeneration of cartilage glycosaminoglycans (GAG). The smooth surface of the cartilage becomes rough and this results in friction. The joint becomes deformed, painful and stiff, and the muscles holding the joint together become weak. Osteoarthritis affects the weight-bearing joints like knees, hips and ankles, and tends to be more common in older people.

Nutritional intervention may well give relief to many sufferers of these debilitating conditions and this review will discuss several of the well researched natural agents that may be incorporated into a regime to help relieve the pain and inflammation associated with degenerative joint disease, concentrating mainly on osteoarthritis.

Arthritis, which mainly affects joints, is not a single disease; in fact, there are over 100 different types of arthritis, some of which are systemic (affect the whole body). A single agent or cause for this complex condition, the subject of long-standing and somewhat detective-like investigations over the past century, has not been determined. However, a number of factors have been implicated and/or suspected, including infectious micro organisms such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa and parasites. Physical injuries to bones and joints, nutritional deficiencies of protein, vitamins and minerals, toxic environmental pollutants, metabolic and immunological disorders, including allergies, psychological and emotional stress etc.

It can be seen that natural substances are important adjunctive agents in the treatment of inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions. By employing a natural approach, pain and inflammation may well be decreased, joint movement and flexibility improved and unpleasant side effects associated with drugs avoided.

Arthritis Treatment

August 19, 2008

Arthritis treatment depends on the type of arthritis and the needs of the person affected. Arthritis simply means joint inflammation. While no cure exists for arthritis, proper treatment can allow normal activity and decrease symptoms. Three types of treatments may be offered.

The first for arthritis treatment treats the underlying condition. An example of this is gold or methotrexate therapy. The second type for the arthritis treatment is aimed at decreasing the inflammatory symptoms. An example of this would be drugs such as ibuprofen, or naproxen, which decrease the swelling. The last type of arthritis treatment is aimed at maintaining function. An example of this would be physical therapy, exercise or massage. It may take time to find the right combination of arthritis treatments to produce best results.

Canes and splints may be used to reduce joint strain. Learning how to perform activities in a less stressful manner will help to avoid pain. Surgery may be needed. Joint surgery may include the removal of damaged linings, realignment or replacement, or the fusion of bones.

Acupuncture treatment for arthritis and joint pain has been with us for centuries. Acupuncture provides many arthritis pain sufferers with an alternative to modern medication. Arthritis treatment through acupuncture may not work alone for joint pains but it can result in powerful pain relief if your joints are angry or inflamed.

Acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine needles into several points around the body. These acupuncture points are often near to the site of your arthritis pain and may be very tender to touch before the needle is inserted. Other acupuncture points used for arthritis pain relief may be quite a way distant from the affected joint. It depends on the particular style of practice used by your acupuncture specialist.

Chronic pain is a major health problem and is one of the most weakening effects of arthritis. The long-term goal of pain management in arthritis treatment is to help patients cope with a chronic, often disabling disease. People with arthritis may be caught in a cycle of pain, depression, and stress. There is no single arthritis treatment that applies to everyone. Health care providers who work with arthritic patients will typically develop individual management plans designed to minimize pain and improve joint function.

Arthritis Symptom

August 18, 2008

There are more than 100 different kinds of arthritis. Here are the most common types and their symptoms:

Osteoarthritis Arthritis Symptoms

This is also called degenerative arthritis. It occurs when the cushioning cartilage in a joint breaks down. It commonly affects feet, knees, hips, and fingers and affects 16 million Americans, mostly 45 and older. Half of those 65 and older have this form of arthritis.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms

The immune system attacks the lining, or synovial membrane, of the joints. This causes joint damage which can become severe and deforming. It involves the whole body, and may also cause fatigue, weight loss and anaemia, and affect the lungs, heart and eyes. Rheumatoid arthritis affects about 2.1 million Americans, three times more women than men.

Gout Arthritis Symptoms

The symptoms are sudden, severe attacks, usually in the big toe, but any joint can be affected. This is a metabolic disorder in which uric acid builds up in the blood and crystals form in joints and other places. Drugs and proper attention to diet can control gout. Gout arthritis affects about 1 million Americans (70 to 80 percent men), with first attack starting between 40 and 50 years of age.

Ankylosing Spondylitis Arthritis Symptoms

This is a chronic inflammatory disease of the spine that can result in fused vertebrae and rigid spine. It is often milder and harder to diagnose in women. Most of the people with the disease also have a genetic marker known as HLA-B27. This affects about 318,000 Americans, usually men between the ages of 16 and 35.

Juvenile Arthritis Symptoms
The most common form of this is juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The diagnosis, treatment, and disease characteristics are different in children and adults. Some children recover completely; others remain affected throughout their lives. This form of arthritis affects about 200,000 Americans.

Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms

The bone and other joint tissues become inflamed. Like rheumatoid arthritis, it can affect the whole body. This disease affects about 5 percent of people with psoriasis, a chronic skin disease. It is most likely to affect fingers or spine. The symptoms are mild in most people but can be quite severe. It affects about 160,000 Americans.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Symptoms

This disease involves skin, joints, muscles, and sometimes internal organs. Symptoms often appear in women of childbearing age but can occur in anyone at any age. This is also called lupus or SLE and can be mild or life threatening. This disease affects at least 131,000 Americans, nine to ten times as many women as men.

Arthritis Society

August 17, 2008

Arthritis societies are established world over with specific ideals and objectives. They are basically formed as support centers for people afflicted with arthritis. The arthritis societies provide valuable information regarding the nature, medications various therapies and other related help lines.

These societies provide information, education and support for people, their families and careers through the provision of a website and telephone help line. The arthritis societies also campaign at government levels for greater priority to be given to the disease in the national health framework and for better access to best treatments and services.

Their websites are also used as an information resource by health professionals interested in rheumatology. Information and registration can be located on these web sites or by telephoning the society on the above number.

The Arthritis Societies raises funds through donations, subsidies, grants and even through sale of various newsletters and journals. These journals are to provide the latest development in the field of medicine and other therapies for the use and knowledge of the general public.

Volunteers are recruited by the arthritis societies. They represent the Society in their communities. They implement programs, provide leadership, deliver services that support people with arthritis and raise funds to meet the goals of The Society.

The research section provides information on arthritis research projects that are currently underway around the world. Research is the only route to discovering new and better ways to manage and treat the many forms of arthritis. The various help lines of the societies help people affected with arthritis to manage their lives in a better way. These are through campaigns, volunteers, and even online suggestions. They are under the guidance of professional physicians and health workers.

Online questionnaires, consultations and directions for better living is provided through the various websites. Relaxation techniques, alternative therapies, and valuable tips for family and group discussion forums are also provided. The arthritis societies’ main objective is to build up patient’s confidence in facing life and the pain and also to make them understand that they are no less in social productivity than the normal rest.

Arthritis Research

August 16, 2008

Arthritis is the second most common cause of time off work among both men and women. It is a fact that one child in a thousand is afflicted with this crippling condition. This is in contrary to the general belief that arthritis affects only the elderly.

Arthritis Research Campaigns are fundamentally meant to raise funds to promote medical research into the cause, treatment and cure for arthritic conditions. They educate the general public, medical students, doctors and allied healthcare professionals about arthritis through various media and to provide information to people affected by arthritis and to the general public.

Arthritis Pain

August 15, 2008

Arthritis pain may come from different sources. These may include inflammation of the tissue that lines the joints, the tendons, or the ligaments; muscle strain and fatigue. A combination of these factors adds to the intensity of the pain. The pain of arthritis varies greatly from person to person, for reasons unknown to doctors.

Factors that contribute to the pain include swelling within the joint, the amount of heat or redness present, and/or damage that has occurred within the joint. Additionally, activities affect pain differently so that some patients note pain in their joints after first getting out of bed in the morning, whereas others develop pain after prolonged use of the joint. The threshold and tolerance for pain differs from individual to individual and is often affected by both physical and emotional factors.

These can include depression, anxiety, and even hypersensitivity at the affected areas due to tissue injury and inflammation. This increased sensitivity normally appears to affect the amount of pain perceived by the individual.

Coping with Arthritis Pain

The long-term goal of pain management is to help you cope with this chronic, often disabling arthritis pain. You may be caught in a cycle of depression, stress and pain. To attain freedom from this cycle, you need to be an active participant with the doctor and other health care professionals to help you manage your pain. This includes cognitive-behavioural therapy, physical therapy, biofeedback, occupational therapy, relaxation techniques, and family counselling therapy.

How to Manage Arthritis Pain
•    Eat a healthy, nutritious diet.
•    Get sufficient (8 to 10 hours) sleep at night.
•    Keep a daily diary of pain and mood changes to share with your doctor.
•    Choose a caring, dedicated physician.
•    Join a support group for pain management and support for arthritis.
•    Be informed about new research on managing arthritis pain.

What To Look For As Early Symptoms Of Autism

August 14, 2008

Normally, the initial step in the evaluation of any patient is the securing, by skillful questioning and careful listening, of a detailed historical account of all subjective symptoms that might conceivably pertain to the patient’s present illness. The second component of the clinical examination is the eliciting of physical signs.However, there are instances wherein the eliciting of symptoms and signs are not clearly manifested at the first stage of the problem. These are mostly prevalent in cases wherein the patient is still a baby.One great example is the case of autism, especially in children.

The Childhood Autism

Autism is, generally, a pervasive development disorder or better known as PDD, that manifests delayed development in basic communication skills.This general symptom of childhood autism is not clearly diagnosed until about the child is already on his or her toddler or pre-school stage.In its entirety, autism, which is mostly prevalent in children, is characterized by the child’s inability to communicate verbally or to emotionally bond with other people.The diagnosis of such disorders through these general symptoms may be too late if the physician or the parents will only depend on these latent indicators.Hence, it is important to detect the early symptoms of autism to initiate immediate observation, effective therapy, and protective measures, if necessary.

The Early Signs and Symptoms

Any suggestion that the patient is suffering from certain disorders such as autism should be put on the expert’s guard at once. Abnormalities in whatever area of development as well as any signs of metabolic disorder should be immediately detected and diagnosed.For some people, it is difficult to identify the probable symptoms of childhood autism. Usually, they confuse the child’s behavioral problems as something that they thought they are the ones who were at fault. This is, indeed, a wrong connotation because autism is not caused by environmental factors. In fact, no one knows what the exact causes of autism are.However, the early diagnosis of the disorder is very vital in helping the child minimize the aberrations. Treatments and therapies will be infused immediately whenever the problems are detected on its earliest stage.

Therefore, for people who want to know the initial symptoms of autism, here are some of the basic indicators that can be associated with infants as young as 1 year old.

1. Be wary if your child is not able to manifest normal gestures such as pointing or waving by the time he turns one year old.Normally, children should be adept in more gestures that show proper body and brain coordination such as waving bye-bye or pointing to certain objects that fascinates them by the time that they turn one.If, in any case, your child does not manifest gestures such as those mentioned, then, your child is most likely a candidate for autism.

2. No chatting or coos by 12 months of age.This would mean that your child is having delayed communication developments, which is the primary indicator of childhood autism.

3. By the time your child reaches 16 months and still he cannot utter even a single word, then, he may be having difficulty with verbal communication, which is one of the vital signs in autism.

4. When children reach 24 months and still, they do not utter two-word phrases on their own and keep on repeating what other people are saying could mean early signs of autism.

5. Your child may be autistic if he or she had lost communication or social skills.These early symptoms are very important in identifying the probability that the child is autistic. Thus, parents and the people around them should be aware that these signs are not normal and could be good indicators of autism.Keep in mind that the consequences of neglect in reporting or failure to realize the true gravity of the situation may be serious. By the time people realize the matter, it may be too late already.

Arthritis Pain Relief

August 14, 2008

Arthritis pain relief is much the same as any other using hypnosis, but focused on diminishing the long-term pain arthritis causes. Hypnosis can help you achieve arthritis pain relief by teaching you how to use your mind to lower the amount of pain you perceive. Studies have shown that when hypnosis is used for anesthesia - that is, total removal of pain, the pain signals are still generated at the nerve endings, but they are not ‘acted upon’ by the brain. Or in other words, the brain simply ignores the pain signals.

Hypnosis can induce arthritis pain relief through a variety of methods such as metaphor, scaling and dissociation. Hypnotherapy can allow you to escape from typical patterns of response and behavior to achieve greater flexibility and choice. Hypnotherapy works by allowing you to relax deeply, so giving you the ability to choose new ways of doing, being and thinking, without being controlled by past experience.

Biofeedback uses special equipment to help in arthritis pain relief by making you more aware of your body’s reaction to stress and pain. Biofeedback technique can help those with arthritis learn to better relax their muscles and control their response to pain. This is a technique that measures bodily functions and teaches you how to alter these functions through relaxation or imagery.

Simple Arthritis Exercises apart from the regular medication, proper diet, rest and relaxation, doctors also recommend arthritis exercises. These are specially designed exercises for people with different types of arthritis and to bring about arthritis pain relief. Exercises help to keep joints completely movable and strengthen adjacent muscles.

Other methods of arthritis pain relief include applying heat or cold for arthritis affected areas. It all depends on the type of arthritis which should be discussed with your doctor or physical therapist. Moist heat, such as a warm bath or shower, or dry heat, such as a heating pad, placed on the painful area of the joint for about 15 minutes may relieve the pain. Ice packs wrapped in a towel and placed on the sore area for about 15 minutes may help to reduce swelling and relieve pain.

Arthritis Medicine

August 4, 2008

You may be on more than one medicine for your arthritis. This is because different arthritis medicines work in different ways. A common combination is an analgesic, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and one or more disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

•    If one arthritis medicine does not work this does not mean that you will not respond to another. Similarly if you develop side-effects with one arthritis medicine, this does not mean that you will develop the same problems with another medicine.
•    Some arthritis medicines, including several used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, do not work immediately. Some can take several months to produce improvement.
•    While most arthritis medicines are taken by mouth (orally) some are given by suppository or by injection. For example, gold is usually given by injection into a muscle (intramuscular injection), etanercept is given by injection under the skin (subcutaneous injection), and infliximab is given as a drip into a vein (intravenous infusion).
•    Some arthritis medicines are started at a low dose which is gradually increased (e.g. methotrexate). Other medicines are started at a higher dose and depending on how you respond to the arthritis medicine the dose may be reduced (e.g. gold injections).

Points to remember about all arthritis medicine

•    Keep a list of all the arthritis medicines you take (including those bought over the counter) so that you can tell your doctor.
•    Follow the instructions which your doctor or pharmacist gives you about taking the tablets. For example, anti-inflammatory tablets should be taken with or after food. Penicillamine is taken on an empty stomach. If the instructions are not clear, ask your doctor for an explanation.
•    If after starting the arthritis medicine, if you experience any side-effects, tell your doctor.
•    Do not take medicines which you can buy without prescription without first discussing this with your doctor. These medicines may not be safe for you. For example, some contain anti-inflammatory drugs which can cause problems or react with the drugs which your doctor prescribes. This includes complementary medicines, e.g. herbal remedies or nutritional supplements.
•    Never share your arthritis medicines with others. They may harm them, even if their symptoms are the same as yours.
•    Keep arthritis medicines out of the reach of children.
•    Some drugs must not be taken together with alcohol. If in doubt, ask your doctor.
•    If you miss a dose, do not try to ‘catch up’ by taking extra tablets. If you are worried, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
•    Drugs are only one aspect of the treatment of arthritis. Other helpful treatments include physiotherapy, occupational therapy and foot care (chiropody/podiatry).

If you are in any doubt about your drug treatment for your arthritis, ask your doctor, rheumatology nurse specialist or pharmacist for advice.

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