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Archive for the ‘Arthritis’ Category

Do you think arthritis strikes only the old? If so, you are wrong. Only 40% of people with arthritis are over 65. Plus the stress on joints can begin ten to twenty years before people experience any pain.

There are more than a hundred kinds of arthritis but one of the most common is osteoarthritis which involves deterioration of joint cartilage – the rubbery tissue at the end of your bones that permits smooth movement and absorbs shock. The symptoms are pain, stiffness in joints and difficulty in moving joints. All of these can be debilitating and seriously affect the quality of your life so it pays to incorporate some lifestyle strategies which will protect your joints.

One of the major causes of osteoarthritis is excess weight and obesity. Those extra pounds exert pressure on your joints accelerating the loss of shock-absorbing cartilage. Losing just eleven pounds will substantially reduce your risk.

Nutrition plays an important part in preventing osteoarthritis. For instance, a diet high in Vitamin C will not only cut your risk of developing arthritis; it will even slow its progression in people who have OA. Vitamin C attacks free radicals before they have an opportunity to damage joint tissue. It also stimulates the enzymes involved in building healthy new cartilage. However, the vitamin C should come from foods such as oranges, grapefruit, and kiwi rather than supplements. Vitamin C rich foods have other nutrients that will maximize the vitamin’s benefits.

Vitamin K also helps in repairing and building joint tissue. Studies have demonstrated 200 mcg of Vitamin K a day will provide protection from arthritis. Kale, Swiss chard, parsley, spinach, broccoli and Brussels sprouts are all rich in Vitamin K. Cook the greens in olive oil or, if you are eating them in a salad, add olive oil to the dressing. Vitamin K is fat-soluble and the olive oil improves your absorption.

Look for foods that are rich in selenium as selenium is known to help reduce swelling and maintain healthy joint tissue. High levels of selenium can be found in sunflower seeds which make a great mid-afternoon or evening snack. Other selenium-rich foods are pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, shrimp, salmon, tuna, snapper, and lamb.

Seventy percent of the cartilage in joints is composed of water which is a major player in joint lubrication. So it is important to drink the recommended quantity of water every day. Do not count sodas, coffee or tea as a substitute for water. They either act as a diuretic or else they contain ingredients that can interfere with water absorption.

A sedentary life also increases the risk for arthritis. If you work all day at a computer and then go home and spend the evening watching TV you are inviting muscular weakness. You need regular exercise. It doesn’t have to be strenuous, just regular. However some exercises such as jogging and tennis wear down the cartilage in your leg and hip joints.

Biking is a recommended exercise because the smooth, repetitive motion thickens the cartilage in your leg and hip joints. Yoga is another highly recommended activity. Whichever you choose, you should do it for at least thirty minutes three times a week.

These lifestyle changes are not difficult to incorporate into your daily routine but the rewards of living pain-free days make them well worthwhile.

Overview of Arthritis

Effective help is currently available for people to pro-actively manage arthritis and enjoy life to the fullest. But the actual prevention of arthritis itself is yet another story.

With rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the membranes or tissues lining the joints become inflamed. There is no known way to prevent any form of this disease, including osteoarthritis, adult-onset arthritis and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The exact causes of all these conditions are unknown.

It’s very important for people who fear they are at risk of rheumatoid arthritis to realize that at this time there are no medications to take or lifestyle modifications to make that can completely prevent this crippling disease. However, by making changes to your weight and diet and engaging in moderate exercise, you may be able to slow or even halt the disease’s onset and progress.

But you can only really take the measures needed to control arthritis after it is diagnosed. Until it is known for sure if certain bacteria or viruses trigger the disease, contact with people suffering from it will not change your risk of developing it.

Traditionally, medications and physical therapy have been used to manage the disease. A massive amount of nutrient research has also shown the effect diet and supplements have on the body’s healing processes. Lifestyle changes can also make a big difference.

Causes of the Disease

Joint injuries caused by accidents or overuse increase the occurrence of some types of arthritis. You can also inherit certain genes that may increase your risk. More research is needed to find out how to reduce the disease’s onset from these factors.

Some individuals have an inborn tendency to degenerative joint disease because they have changes in the structure of the important protein-building blocks of the articular cartilage which covers the surface of their joints. These seemingly small but significant abnormalities predispose their joints to wear and degeneration. In other cases, joint injuries may contribute to the development of DJD.

No foods have been definitively shown to cause or exacerbate arthritis in most individuals. A variety of diets and “hand-me-down” information exists about certain foods and arthritis, in particular the night shade plants, but none of it has been proven.

There is a rare form of arthritis called Spure which is caused by allergies to wheat products. Avoiding those will eliminate this disease. Associated features include weight loss, diarrhea and osteoporosis. Consult your health care provider if this is a concern.

There are things you can do to reduce your risk for getting certain types of arthritis or to reduce disability if you already have arthritis.

Overweight and obese people have a higher frequency of arthritis. Excess weight increases risk for developing osteoarthritis in the knees, and possibly in the hips and hands. Women are at special risk. In men, excess weight increases the risk for developing gout. It’s important to maintain your recommended weight, especially as you get older.

Arthritis Prevention Programs

The Center for Disease Control has implemented programs in several states to reduce the onset and consequences of arthritis. The National Arthritis Action Plan: A Public Health Strategy delineates the actions necessary to better understand the arthritis burden in the USA and helps to fully apply known and effective interventions.

This document represents the combined efforts of nearly 90 organizations, such as the Arthritis Foundation, government agencies and many other groups and individuals with an interest in arthritis prevention and control.

The NAAP proposes a nationally coordinated effort for reducing the occurrence of arthritis and its accompanying disability by focusing on these three areas:

1. Surveillance, epidemiology and prevention research to strengthen the science base.

2. Communications and education to increase awareness and provide accurate information about arthritis.

3. Programs, policies, and systems promoting increased quality of life for people with arthritis and facilitating arthritis prevention measures.

The CDC continues to accumulate scientific knowledge on the benefits of physical activity. Because healthy eating reduces a person’s risk of becoming overweight, good nutrition plays an important role in preventing knee osteoarthritis. In addition, moderate physical activity is essential for maintaining the health of joints.

Resources/The information outlined in this article is originally from:

HealingWithNutrition, Arthritis Facts, Disease Prevention and Treatment Strategies http://www.healingwithnutrition.com

Center for Disease Control, Framework for Arthritis Prevention and Control http://www.cdc.gov

The University of Washington Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Frequently Asked Questions About arthritis.

According to government figures, hip fractures cause more than 1150 premature deaths each month in the UK. By the age of 75 around half the population have osteoporosis, because as we get older our bones become more fragile and likely to break or fracture. Your risk is dependent on many factors including family history, race, gender, certain medical conditions and drugs, and your age. You can’t do anything about changing most of those, but you can do something to help prevent osteoporosis.

The first question is diet, and it increases your osteoporosis risk if you crash diet or have a very low body weight as you body takes the calcium it needs from your bones if you are not providing it in your diet. Some foods are very calcium-rich and so are beneficial in helping bones stay strong. These are: Low-fat or non-fat dairy products, tinned sardines and tinned salmon, dark green vegetables, tofu, almonds, figs, sesame seeds and calcium-fortified fruit juices and soy milk. If you can’t stomach any of those, then get a good calcium/magnesium supplement – not just calcium alone as you need the magnesium for maximum calcium absorption. .

Magnesium deficiency can be quite common in osteoporosis and although many fruit and vegetables have some magnesium in them, the best sources are whole grains, wheat bran, leafy green vegetables, nuts (almonds are a very rich source of magnesium and calcium), bananas and apricots. You also need trace minerals: Boron from apples, almonds, pears and green, leafy vegetables and manganese from ginger, buckwheat and oats.

Collagen is a vital factor in having healthy ligaments, tendons and bones and for so are zinc, copper, beta carotene and vitamin C so if you are taking a multivitamin make sure those are all included.

Exercise is also important, and it’s never too late to start. The key factor is that it must be weight bearing such as walking, dancing, playing tennis. Tai Chi and Yoga are also very beneficial, but swimming although an excellent cardiovascular workout is not weight bearing and so won’t help prevent osteoporosis.

I am a great believer in using natural hormones to help with osteoporosis and this is work that was pioneered in the USA by the late Dr John Lee. He prescribed natural progesterone cream to his patients and kept a faithful record of their bones scans over the course of treatment. He saw a substantial improvement in bone density and soon became an outspoken proponent of its use, not something that endeared him to the medical profession!

I myself set up the Natural Progesterone Information Service in the 1990′s as I believed very firmly in his work, and helped pass on his great results to many women, and some enlightened doctors.

Many women take HRT in the belief that it will help or prevent osteoporosis, and for a short time it will delay bone loss. Over time, however, that ability reduces and what is really needed is the hormone that actually builds bone. That is progesterone and unless that is introduced into any treatment regime then can be no improvement in bone density, which is the only real test of whether osteoporosis is being reversed or halted.

If you believe you are at risk of osteoporosis because of any of the risk factors I have mentioned, then speak to your GP about having a scan. Unfortunately osteoporosis has no outward signs to catch it in the early stages – it cannot be diagnosed from looking at you, or talking to you. The ‘symptom’ most easily seen is when a bone breaks under slight pressure or there are a number of breaks in a short period of time.

Prevention makes good sense, so have plenty of exercise, eat calcium rich foods and investigate the role of natural hormones in building bone if you want to minimize your risk for osteoporosis. .

I am sure that you are well aware that diet can affect your health in many ways. What you may not be aware of is exactly what things in your diet will help to prevent arthritis. To understand this we need to know exactly what arthritis is.

There are many forms of arthritis but they all have one thing in common they effect your joints. One of the most common types of arthritis is osteoarthritis and this is the one we will discuss today.

Things that you can eat to prevent osteoarthritis:

Many people have the erroneous belief that osteoarthritis is solely due to wear and tear and is an inevitable part of aging. This is true to a certain extent but does not have to be a fact of life. There are some things that you can do regarding your diet to slow the process and minimize your chances of being crippled by this disease.

Many forms of arthritis will involve inflammation of the joints. You can do a lot to help reduce and prevent inflammation by making some changes to your diet.

Prevention in childhood:

• Giving your child a nutritious healthy diet when they are young will help them to build strong bones that will not be so likely to succumb to join diseases like arthritis.

Anti inflammatory diet
(1) The body needs a minimum of 8 classes of fluid per day. Most of us do not manage to consume this amount. Considering the amount of work fluids do in the body it is necessary for your health to drink as much water as possible. This will help to cleanse the body of impurities and also help to minimize loss of synovial joint fluids. This will also help to stop inflammation.
(2) Fruits and vegetables provide us with vitamins and minerals essential for the body to work properly. The better your health the stronger your joints and bones will be. This will not only prevent inflammation but cut down the risk of arthritis.
(3) Recent research has shown that red meat is not that good for us and should be replaced with meats like chicken and fish.
(4) Omega 3 is known for its good effects on the joints. You can get this in small cold water fish and now organic eggs with omega3 are available in the grocery stores.
(5) Refined and processed foods are not very good for us. The refining process will eliminate a lot of the nutrition in the food and rob us of natural fiber in our diet. A good alternative is to eat whole grain cereals like brown bread and brown rice and try to stay away from refined foods.

Maintaining your weight is an important part of arthritis prevention: if you are heavy you will put strain on your joints and you will be setting yourself up for arthritis in the future. Here are two things you can do today.

• Losing extra pounds: by changing eating habits
• Eating a healthy diet: cutting junk food and choosing fast food wisely

The condition termed as arthritis of the eyes is known as Uvetis. Uvetis can be caused by a lot of factors, although the most definite one that triggers a particular attack is hard to pinpoint. It is believed that the eyes have a lot in common with joints and the knees, as these body parts are self-contained. By being self-contained, it means that these body parts have definite boundaries that create cavities that are filled with fluids, spaces, and connective tissues.

Most cases of eye arthritis have a lot to do with poor diet. Studies also show that smoking may trigger this disease as well. But links with other health conditions such as headaches, infections, and injuries are associated with it too. If a person has a weak immune system, it is also possible that it could have been the point of origin of their eye arthritis.

To prevent eye arthritis, the following steps can be performed:

Undergo eye exams. Every time you feel that there’s something wrong with your eyes, such as if you feel that your eyes are painful, you should go to the doctor and have them checked. Headaches are also a sign of eye arthritis. Therefore whenever your episodes of headache are becoming frequent, don’t waste time and consult with a health expert right away.

Take medications at the onset of symptoms. One of the common symptoms of eye arthritis would be dry eyes. For such cases, apply topical eye drops to relieve the pain. But before doing so, make sure that the medicine you are using is prescribed by your doctor. The most effective eye drops in the market today are the ones that contain betamethosone, prednisolone, and dexamethasone. Never self-medicate. It is mandatory that you determine what type of eye medication is best for your health problem. That’s the only effective way to treat the disease.

Avoid using contact lenses. Those who are suffering from eye arthritis should make sure that they never use contact lenses at all. Contact lenses are known to make the eyes dry out to some degree. If contact lenses are used all the time, then the possibility of triggering eye arthritis will increase.

Use sunglasses to protect the eyes. The use of the right type of sunglasses is going to be beneficial to eye arthritis patients. When the correct type of sunglasses are worn, the eyes won’t be subjected to conditions that could set off eye arthritis. There are sunglasses that can protect the eyes. But there are also sunglasses that can be harmful because they do not use the right type of materials. If you have eye arthritis, be sure to invest on a good pair of sunglasses.

Take oral medications. There are times that oral medications are required to address the pain caused by eye arthritis. Sometimes, the pain becomes too unbearable that oral anti-inflammatory drugs need to be prescribed. For these cases, tell your doctor that mere eye drops are not sufficient to make the pain go away. Ask him to give you oral medications to supplement the effects of the eye drops.

Surgery. Should your case of eye arthritis be on the advanced level, try to consider surgery, especially if your doctor had already suggested it. Surgery has its pros and cons. Make sure that you weigh them first and take them into consideration when you make your decision. Also, ask your doctor to explain to you the entire process and all the possible effects when you choose to undergo it. This way, you will know what to expect after the procedure.

These are the different ways to prevent, and possibly cure, eye arthritis. Eye arthritis is a medical condition that should not be ignored. The moment you know that you have it, take immediate action so that you can avoid the pains associated with it.

Does your arthritis prevent you from slicing an onion or whipping cream? Arthritis does interfere with many daily activities, and one of the most important of these is cooking. The pain and stiffness caused by arthritis can prevent you from cooking your favorite meals and reduce you to eating frozen dinners. With some simple adaptations, however, you can regain your cooking abilities. Here are some techniques and adaptations to follow to get you back in your kitchen and cooking again.

One adaptation you can make easily is to purchase pre-chopped and pre-sliced ingredients when shopping. Chopped vegetables and fruits, shredded cheeses, sliced and cubed meats, and many other similar products are available at your local grocery store. In addition, many deli and meat counters will slice meat according to your request. All you have to do is ask. Using dried herbs and seasonings instead of fresh herbs is another adaptation you can make. This may be a trade of flavor for ease of preparation, as many people prefer the taste of fresh herbs, but you will have to decide this for yourself. Dried herbs are much easier to use when preparing meals, so if your arthritis is severe, it is an option to consider.

Another adaptation that you can make, with a little help from your family or friends, is to arrange your kitchen for easy accessibility. Make sure that your cooking pots, pans, and utensils are all stored within easy reach. Go through your cooking tools and decide which ones you use frequently. After you decide, arrange your kitchen cupboards and drawers so that these items are stored between your waist and chest height. You should not have to bend below your waist or reach above your shoulders to access these items. The items in your kitchen that you use less often can be stored on upper cupboard shelves and lower shelves and drawers. You will not need to reach these items as often, so it does not matter as much if they are more difficult to access. Have the important things within easy reach.

If you have the financial means and are open to making some purchases, consider replacing your cooking items with those that are easier on your hands. Replace heavy pots and pans with those that are made of lighter materials. Use two smaller pans to make a meal instead of one large one that you cannot lift. Replace regular cooking utensils with large handled utensils. Good Grips is a brand that manufactures a wide range of cooking utensils with large, comfortable handles that are easy to grasp. These utensils are widely available at many kitchen stores.

An additional tip is to use your small electric appliances. Take your mixer and blender out and set them on your counter, where you can easily use them, and then do it. Using a machine to mix dough, chop ice, or do a variety of other jobs can save a load of stress on your joints. A small electric vegetable chopper and an electric can opener are also valuable tools.

Finally, change the way you move around your kitchen as you cook. Slide heavy pots and pans along the countertop rather than lifting and carrying them. Cook in smaller batches so that your dishes do not get overloaded and are lighter to transport. If you have one, use a wheeled cart to move items within your kitchen or between your kitchen and dining room. When cleaning up, use your dishwasher or, if you don’t have one, wash your dishes and let them drain dry before putting them away to save yourself some energy.

By following these tips, you should be able to make cooking easier for yourself at home. You will be able to fix home cooked meals for yourself while reducing the stress on your joints, saving yourself pain and swelling. So for less pain and good eats, give these techniques a try.