Rheumatoid arthritis, although it is still very mysterious, does have some natural forms of treatments that can be quite effective. It is still considered to be one of the most challenging diseases that exist and it has doctors that specialize in it that are referred to as rheumatologists. However, no one still fully understands what the actual cause is or why it seems to come and go.
They also do not fully understand why some people develop severe cases where it may become permanently crippling as opposed to some people that have just one exposure and never have it return.
What is it?
Rheumatoid arthritis is considered to be a chronic inflammatory disorder that in most all cases affects only the small joints in your hands or your feet. It is also considered to be very different form osteoarthritis where the damages are caused by wear and tear, as this disease affects the linings of your joints. Once this occurs, it causes a very painful swelling and if it is not controlled, it can rapidly result in both bone erosion as well as joint deformity. What is known is that it is an autoimmune disorder which is where your body basically attacks itself by mistake.
When this attack takes place, your immune system attacks your synovium, which is the lining of the membranes that surround your joints, which in turn, causes inflammation. Once inflamed, this lining begins to thicken which will eventually invade and begin to destroy the bones as well as the cartilage within the joints. Once this occurs your tendons and ligaments that hold these joints together begin to stretch and become weak, and over a period of time, your joints will lose both its shape as well as its ailment.
If it is severe enough, it will not only cause joint problems, it can also attack your entire body causing severe fatigue and fevers in some cases. However, there is another very troubling and challenging aspect about this disease; it affects women at almost a 3 to 1 ratio over men and no one fully understands why. It also seems to attack during mid-life and develops between the ages of 40 to 60 in most all cases. Although there is still no known actual cure for Rheumatoid arthritis, there have been several advances in treatments especially in natural forms as well as several nutrients.
Symptoms:
Rheumatoid arthritis, although it is best known for affecting your hands, wrists, and feet, can also affect your shoulders, hips, knees, jaws, and even your neck in some cases. The first symptom or signs will joint pain that is quickly flowed by swelling in the joints. Once this occurs, these joints will become very tender as well as painful it you touch them or hit them against something, and they will also start to turn red as well as puffy as it is advances in severity.
The next set of symptoms that may occur is referred to as rheumatoid nodules, which are very firm bumps of tissue that will form under the skin of your arms.
However, this will not occur in all cases, but the next symptoms will; morning stiffness as well as fatigue. Morning stiffness is quite common in everyone when you first wake up, but it will soon become quite apparent to you that this is not normal as it will begin to last longer as the disease continues its advance on your body. In most all cases, it will only affect your smaller joints which are your wrists, hands, ankles and feet, but it can spread to other parts of your body.
Rheumatoid arthritis also remains a mystery simply because all of these symptoms can come and go very rapidly only to return with more severity and then repeat the process. However, in some cases, it may not come and go but instead it will just keep getting worse day after day. It may hit just you one time, leave, and then never return.
Although there is still no known actual cause, there is a lot of speculation that it is somehow genetically inclined. Your genes can't actually cause this disease, but they can place you at a much higher degree of risk then other people. It is also speculated that certain viruses or bacterium can trigger it, as well as sex, age, and smoking.
Natural treatments:
In the last few years, several alternative treatments for Rheumatoid arthritis have demonstrated some very promising results. Some doctors that specialize in nutritional therapy will take this approach when treating this disease; eliminate foods from the diet that aggravate the disease and then add anti-inflammatory fats to treat it such as fish oil as well as some vitamins and minerals. There have been numerous studies with this disease that have involved omega-3 fatty acids and fish that are very high in this form of fatty acids; Mackerel, salmon, as well as tuna.
These studies have shown that if you eat these species of fish two to three times a week as well as taking fish oil supplements and cod liver oil is dosages of 3 teaspoons three times a day, you may dramatically reduce the inflammation. However, in doing so, you will also need to cut back on other fats, especially meat fats and specifically lunch meat fats. Vitamin C is also very effective as it is perhaps the strongest anti-inflammatory nutrient. Inflammation is believed to be mediated by free radicals and if you can eliminate them, you may not get rid of all the inflammation, but you can good of the vast majority of it.
The mineral selenium is also very effective and it is essential to your body in small amounts. It also is very effective in fighting inflammation and your body uses it to produce glutathione peroxidase, which is an enzyme that actually works inside of your joints to control free radicals. The minerals zinc and copper are also very effective and it has been suggested that people with Rheumatoid arthritis have low blood levels of zinc. When this occurs, it opens the doors for high levels of inflammatory bio-chemicals in your blood and your body needs both zinc and copper to produce superoxide dismutase.
This is an inflammation fighting enzyme also found in your joints and its main job is neutralizing free-radicals. However, there are also some herbal medications that are quite effective. The first is Thunder god vine and preparations made from the root of this plant have been used for centuries in Chinese medicine to treat both inflammation as well as autoimmune disease that cause inflammation. Evening primrose oil as well as black current plants also contain a type of fatty acid that helps with the inflammation and also seems to very effective in controlling the morning stiffness that this disease causes.
Summary:
Rheumatoid arthritis is still a very challenging disease and if you do have it, you want nothing more than to control it or have it go away. Although there is no actual cure, these nutrients in liquid form can be very effective as liquids absorb into your body at over 90 percent effectiveness and if you combine it with a modified diet that includes fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, you may win this battle.
I am an avid lover of pets and my wife and I have had several pets throughout our years. We are especially fond of dogs, and we have a 12 year old Dalmatian (our 3rd) and a "mutt" that we rescued when someone threw him away to die in a vacant field.
He found us, nearly starved to death, and weighed about 2 pounds.
After severe bouts of mange and severe dehydration, and over 1,000.00 in veterinarian bills, we saved the little guys life, and he is one of the best, if not the best, dogs we have ever had and today is a muscular, fit, and firm 70 pound best friend.
After finishing my MBA, which at middle age was not easy, I decided to keep the research work ethics that I acquired, and devote about two hours each night in understanding the health benefits of supplementation for both humans and pets and how they might strengthen our, as well as our pets, immune system in a pre-emptive approach to health rather than a reactionary approach.
Both of my daughters are avid cat lovers, and asked me to help them with health concerns and challenges with their cats.
I am not a veterinarian nor claim to be, just a lover of pets that loves to research and pass on some knowledge that might be helpful, or at least stimulating to the thought process.
Several of the articles that I have written can be found on my website;
Liquid Vitamins & Minerals for Humans & Pets
http://www.liquid-vitamins-minerals-humans-pets.com/
