How nutrition and medication can help with arthritis

From health24.com

The general term used to describe joint pain or joint disease is arthritis. There are more than 100 different types of arthritis and it is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. It can affect people of all ages, not only the elderly. 
What are the common symptoms?
Swelling, pain, joint stiffness and a decreased range of motion, and the intensity can vary from mild to severe.
What are the most common types of arthritis?
Osteoarthritis (OA): This is a degenerative form of arthritis and is also the most common. It occurs when cartilage wears away and bone rubs against bone, causing pain, swelling and stiffness.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA): This is an inflammatory, autoimmune disorder where the immune system overreacts and attacks the body, in this case the joints. It is believed that a combination of susceptible genetics and environmental triggers (like smoking) can trigger the auto-immune response. With RA, early diagnosis and aggressive treatment is vital because the slower the disease progresses the less damage is caused.
Gout: When purines from protein foods are broken down by the body, uric acid is formed. In the case of gout, people naturally produce excessive amounts of uric acid and /or the body is unable to clear the excess uric acid fast enough. When the uric acid gets too much, tiny needle-like crystals can form in the joint, causing extreme pain referred to as a gout attack. If uric acid levels are not reduced, the gout can become chronic.

How nutrition can help
OA:

• Losing >5% of your body weight can result in a modest improvement in pain and function, but unfortunately does not slow disease progression.
• Eat more dark green and orange vegetables and orange fruits. Sufficient amounts of antioxidants can help to combat inflammation.
• Avoid foods high in sugar and made from white refined flour as these aggravate inflammation.

RA:

• Follow a Mediterranean type diet. This involves including more mono-unsaturated fats (like olives and avo) into your diet, increasing your wholegrain, legumes, fruit, vegetable and seafood intake, decreasing your meat and meat product intake and including moderate amounts of low fat dairy.

Gout:

• Slow and sustainable weight loss (if overweight).
• Avoid fast weight loss on a high animal protein diet (rapid weight loss and high dietary animal purines can aggravated serum uric acid levels).
• Limit your intake of high purine-containing meat and seafood.
• High purine vegetables need not be limited.
• Decrease your intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and foods.
• Decrease your intake of alcoholic beverages, especially beer.
• Consult your doctor and dietitian abut which foods are high in purines and what other dietary measures you can take to assist with your gout attacks.

How supplementation or medication can help
OA:

• Antioxidant supplements have not been shown to be beneficial, therefore it is better to focus on your diet
• Glucosamine Sulphate and ASU (Avocado Soy Unsaponifiables) may improve symptoms of OA.
• Herbal products that show promise include devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), rose hip and seed powder, and the Chinese herbal mixture SKI306X.
• Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) may improve pain when compared to a placebo, but further studies are needed before any recommendations can be made.

RA:

• Remission can be achieved through medications known as anti-rheumatic drugs (prescribed by a doctor).
• If taking Methotrexate (MTX), ask your doctor about folic-acid (1mg/day) supplementation which can reduce the adverse effects of MTX, especially liver toxicity.
• If you are receiving glucocorticoids, it is vital that you consume adequate calcium (1200-1500mg/day from your diet and supplements) as well as the active form of vitamin D3.
• High dose omega 3 fatty acid supplements may also have a beneficial effect on some RA symptoms. However, more studies are warranted before a specific dose can be recommended.
• If you suffer from anaemia, chat to your doctor about how to effectively treat this condition.

Gout:

• Vitamin C doses of 500mg/day appear to be well tolerated and assist with excretion of uric acid. Consult your doctor or dietitian about optimal levels of vitamin C.

All these conditions should be managed by your doctor and dietitian. It is important to remember that although the ingredients described above may be generally regarded as safe, it is always advisable to ask your doctor or healthcare provider about testing your vitamin and mineral levels and appropriate supplementation.

http://www.health24.com/Diet-and-nutrition/Nutrition-basics/how-nutrition-and-medication-can-help-with-arthritis-20160823

Quitting Smoking Helps Rheumatoid Arthritis

From newsmax.com

Quitting smoking can benefit people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, a new study finds.

About 1.5 million people in the U.S. have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disorder that attacks the tissue around the body’s joints and also can widespread cause pain and disability.

It is widely recognized that cigarette smoking is a strong risk factor for the development of RA but the relationship between smoking and disease activity in established disease has been less clear.

In this new study, researchers at Stamford University in Palo Alto, Calif. looked at factors found in RA, including expressions of inflammation, called cytokines, as well as other clinical measures of rheumatoid arthritis disease activity in  U.S. Veterans and compared them with those of non-smokers and never-smokers.

The team studied 1,466 U.S. veterans enrolled in the Veterans Affairs RA registry, and enrolled 1,130 (76 percent) whom tested positive for anti-CCP2 antibodies, which is a marker for the disease. Of the participants, 89 percent were men, and the study involved   321 current smokers, 599  former smokers, and 210 never smokers.

The researchers found that cigarette smoking increased the expression of markers of inflammation as well as clinical measures of disease activity.  But they also found that stopping smoking eventually reduced the level of inflammatory markers and decreased disease activity similar to levels observed in never smokers.
http://www.newsmax.com/Health/Health-News/rheumatoid-arthritis-smoking-symptoms/2016/08/15/id/743670/

Science Reveals Why You Feel Stiff in the Morning

By Karla Bowsher

Researchers have discovered why we often feel stiff during morning hours.
The effects of a protein called cryptochrome wear off during the morning hours, causing stiffness, according to a study published this month in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Journal.
Cryptochrome is created by the body’s circadian rhythm, aka its “biological clock.” It has significant anti-inflammatory effects, according to the study.
Cryptochrome actively suppresses inflammation, specifically during the night, the researchers found. According to a report in The Telegraph:

Researchers revealed the reason our limbs can feel rigid and achy when we rise is because the body’s biological clock suppresses anti-inflammatory proteins during sleep.
When we start moving around each morning our body is playing catch up as the effects of the proteins wear off.

This finding helps explain why the symptoms of chronic inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis tend to be worse during the daytime.
While this discovery may not yield an immediate solution to help people who struggle with inflammation, it does have the potential to help researchers develop more effective treatments for inflammatory diseases like arthritis.
Co-author Julie Gibbs, who studies arthritis at the Institute of Human Development at the University of Manchester in the U.K., explains in a news release from FASEB:

“By understanding how the biological clock regulates inflammation, we can begin to develop new treatments, which might exploit this knowledge. Furthermore, by adapting the time of day at which current drug therapies are administered, we may be able to make them more effective.”

http://www.moneytalksnews.com/science-reveals-why-you-feel-stiff-the-morning/

How to use ginger lemon water for arthritis and high blood pressure

From startsat60.com

Are you feeling tired, drained and unhealthy? Are you searching for a way to give your immune system a boost? How about a drink that can relieve stress? The key to good health is only an infusion away!
One of the best drinks to have during the winter, a ginger and lemon infusion is power-packed with some incredible health and body care benefits. It’s sweet and spicy and easy to make too, and is often prescribed as a natural home remedy for colds, sore throats and fever.

What does lemon do for you?

1. Cures throat infections. Lemon is an excellent fruit that aids in fighting problems related to throat infections, sore throat and tonsillitis as it has an antibacterial property.

2. Controls high blood pressure. Lemon water works wonders for people having heart problems, owing to its high potassium content. It controls high blood pressure, dizziness, nausea as well as provides
relaxation to mind and body. It also reduces mental stress and depression.
3. Good for treating arthritis. Lemon is also a diuretic and hence lemon water can treat rheumatism and arthritis. It helps to flush out bacteria and toxins out of the body.
4. Great for weight loss. One of the most talked about health benefit of drinking lemon water is that it paves the way for losing weight faster, thus acting as a great weight loss remedy.
5. Treats a fever. Lemon fever helps increase perspiration, which is great for someone suffering from a flu or a fever, as it helps breaks the fever.
Why add ginger?
1. Reduces pain. Ginger is known to have anti-inflammatory properties and is a powerful natural painkiller.
2. Heartburn relief. Ginger has long been used as a natural heartburn remedy. It is most often taken in the form of tea or infusions for this purpose.
3. Cold and flu prevention and treatment. Ginger has long been used as a natural treatment for colds
and the flu. Many people also find ginger to be helpful in the case of stomach flu or food poisoning, which is not surprising given the positive effects ginger has upon the digestive tract.
4. Migraine relief. Research has shown that ginger may provide migraine relief due to its ability to stop prostaglandins from causing pain and inflammation in blood vessels.
5. Prevention of diabetic nephropathy. Ginger has been proven to reduce kidney damage that occurs as a result of diabetes.
So go on, start your day with a healthy natural drink!
Note: To make the infusion, add slices of a 2 to 3 inch piece of ginger to 4 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Add the juice of one large lemon and let steep for 20-30 minutes. Sweeten with a sweetener of your choice.

https://startsat60.com/health/the-great-benefits-of-ginger-lemon-water-and-why-you-should-be-drinking-it

Dinosaur diagnosed with arthritis amazes the scientific field

By Geraldine Chacon

A study by scientists from the University of Manchester and published by the Royal Society found that at least one dinosaur had severe arthritis, and the evidence indicates that the creature suffered severe pains due to this condition until the time of death.
The fossil is about 70 million years old and, according to scientists, it was a hadrosaur, a plant-eating specimen that had septic arthritis in the joints of the elbow, as showed by an X-Ray analysis made to the fossil. The New Jersey State Museum Foundation with The Richards Fund funded the investigation in order to enrich palaeopathological knowledge since identification of pathologies in the fossil record allows scientists and general public to understand extinct systems and rarities among organisms from our natural history.

About the sick fossil

Scientists presented in their study a vertebrate from the Mesozoic of the East Coast of North America (Appalachia), an indeterminate hadrosaur from the Navesink Formation (New Jersey) found in Gloucester County in New Jersey.
Through X-ray studies, they discovered that the animal presented the pathologic condition affecting the proximal ulna and radius. However, scientists do not know if this were the only parts of the fossil affected with the disease since the other parts of the body were not found.
The diagnosis was based on the results of the X-ray tomography, an instrument that revealed an erosion of the joint along with an unnatural bone growth in the periosteal, features that are results of septic of arthritis. This is the first time this particular type of arthritis appears in dinosaurs fossils. The benefits of using an X-Ray tomography, specifically a microtomography, in this case, is the non-destructive character of it. While some other scientific techniques to analyze samples require destruction of the bone of body part under study, this type of tomography preserves the part without harming it and allowing the scientist to conserve the specimen digitally.
This particular specimen is also rare since the fossil record for Mesozoic terrestrial animals is not very rich, so there are not that many hadrosaurs to compare the physical structure and the behaviour of the affection in comparison to others.
The ulna of the hadrosaur measured more than 670 mm while the radius measures 535 mm. The parts were found joint together but for scientific purposes, they were separated once under study.

A significant finding among the darkness

This discovery was relevant considering that the majority of information about Mesozoic fauna is composed solely of skeletal remains that are not enough to make deep conclusions about these particular type of fossils. Eastern North America had through the history some environmental conditions that affected the conservation of fossils, so most, remains are severely fragmented or infected with different diseases or conditions that make them fragile and impossible to manipulate for scientific purposes.
This reality opposes, however, to the relevance of the East Coast specimens, since New Jersey represents an important center for academic vertebrate paleontology in the Americas, and the Mesozoic territory in the East is one of the primary fields studied by New Jersey’s scientists.

The significant contribution to Palaeopathology

While paleontology is the study of extinct life forms and systems that lived about 12,000 years before the present time, through scientific methods, palaeopathology responds to researching and studying about ancient diseases and trauma, to comprehend the immunology system and the biological background of extinct species.  This finding has made a major contribution to the latter, due to the rarity of the specimen and its condition.
Given the provenance and pathological condition, this fossil represents a major discovery to those who study bone conditions in extinct vertebrates. This type of research is performed more frequently since it’s more accessible to scientists reaching physical data and diagnose conditions in existing pieces, like bone fragments than analyze conditions in soft tissues that can not be preserved.

The diagnosis

The projection of the bone, the structure of the radial articulation and the overall surface of the bones were analyzed, both with an internal and external examination. The reactive bone growth was the first condition diagnosed. The scan revealed the extent of the lesions along the radius and the ulna articular surface. The texture of some areas and the tissue orientation were also abnormal.
The final brochure of the investigation, before ruling out several possible conditions linked to the state of the body parts studied, states as the diagnosis the following:

The ulna and radius show signs of both excessive bone necrosis and reactive (pathological) bone growth, which can be attributed to several conditions seen in reptiles and birds. The most likely explanation for the given pathology is a form of osteoarthritis, as reported by The Royal Society.

All data related to the investigation is available online.

http://www.pulseheadlines.com/dinosaur-diagnosed-arthritis-amazes-scientific-field/45168/

Foods that exacerbate arthritis symptoms

By Tracie O'Keefe

Arthritis is a large label for many different conditions. It is a group among five of the major diseases of old age.
There are two main types of arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the disintegration of joint material such as the synovial fluid volume (lubrication), synovial sack (joint jacket), cartilage, and ligament integrity. This leads to bones rubbing together, bone on bone, causing swelling, deformities, restricted range of movement, stiffness, inflammation and pain. This is usually due to wear, tear and injury throughout life.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune response where the body starts to attack the joints. Many of the previously mentioned symptoms may occur but it is particularly marked by swollen warm to burning painful joints. There is a scarring and thickening of the joint capsule which causes physical deformities, with hands and feet being pulled into unnatural positions. Rheumatoid arthritis can also affect many other areas of the body so it should be managed under a healthcare practitioner.
Genetic disorders can affect the occurrence of arthritis-type symptoms. For some people this can occur in childhood but for most people arthritis becomes a greater problem later in life.
Foods to avoid
Diet is profoundly important for conditions such as arthritis. It needs to be an anti-inflammation diet. The most anti-inflammatory diet is always a plant-based diet because it does not contain prostaglandins which are biochemicals from animal cells that are pro-inflammatory. Therefore it’s best to avoid all animal-based products, including fish.
The diet must also be customised to the individual because different people are more affected by different foods than others, which can add to the inflammation. You may not know what foods you are allergic to until you are screened and tested (see a nutritionist who specialises in plant-based nutrition).
Some people may experience increased inflammation when they eat foods of the deadly nightshade family such as potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers (capsicum). However, it is not the case for all people. Capsicum, for instance, contains some of the highest vitamin C content which builds and repairs joints and brings down inflammation.
Other people may be grain intolerant.
As you grow older the stomach acid reduces so the protein digestion in the stomach become poor. When the grain protein leaks into the blood through a leaky gut, it can cause an inflammatory response that is global in nature rather than site specific.
Fried and cooked foods are not natural to the digestive system and cause an inflammatory response. Processed and manufactured food along with alcohol, caffeine and smoking are also pro-inflammatory.
You were not taught this as a child because we have only discovered this over the past 20 years or so. To relieve your arthritis an individually determined, raw plant-based diet is the least inflammatory diet you can follow.
If you are overweight, you need to lose weight. Obesity is one of the greatest enemies of arthritis because it put unnecessary strain on the joints. When you move on to a raw food, plant-based diet you will lose weight in a healthy way to become your natural weight.
Managing any condition requires a holistic approach, of which diet is one component. Other treatments include exercise (only if recommended by a healthcare practitioner as it can make symptoms worse in some people); moving to a warm, dry climate if possible; drugs where necessary, including medical marijuana where legal; and hypnosis.
When combined with these, plant-based eating can be effective in reducing the painful symptoms of arthritis.

https://startsat60.com/health/various-foods-that-exacerbate-arthritis-symptoms