How to cope with Arthritis
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from December 1999.
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In many, the degree of pain associated with the decision interferes with their ability to carry out their daily activities. There are, however, a number of treatments and management options that can help you to markedly improve the quality of your life.
What is Arthritis?
The word arthritis (not arteritis) means inflammation of the joints. The term is actually used to refer to about 100 conditions and disorders that can cause pain, stiffness, and swelling in the joints. Some of these diseases can affect not only the joints, but also other parts of the body, such as muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments and internal organs. The two most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis (wearing away of the protective cartilage of the joints, usually in the knees and hips) and rheumatoid arthritis (where the immune system attacks the lining of the joint) in osteoarthritis a loss of cartilage occurs; this is the shock-absorbing gel-like material between the joints. As mentioned, the weight bearing joints such as the knees, hips and spine as well as the fingers (in your case) and the hands are the joints most often affected.
Such joints are under greater stress because of weight and use.
Warning Signs
If you have any of the following see your doctor: Swelling in one or more joints
Morning stiffness lasting one half hour or longer
Persistent joint pain or tenderness
• Not being able to move a joint in the normal way
• Redness or warmth in a joint
• Weight loss, fever or weakness and joint pain.
Treatment
• Physical exercise helps reduce joint pain and stiffness, increase flexibility muscle strength, and endurance.
• A well balanced diet helps to maintain an ideal body weight; extra weight plus more pressure on joints can aggravate osteoarthritis.
• Head and cold therapies can help relieve the pain and inflammation.
• Rest and relaxation - maintain a daily balance between rest and activity.
• Assistive devices (splints or races) can help support weekend joints and allow them to rest.
• Surgery may be necessary in some cases to replace damaged joints.
• Medications provide relief from pain and inflammation; types of medications will vary by patient and the type of arthritis.
• The primary drugs used in the treatment of osteoarthritis are the so called nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs or NSAIDS, which include aspirin ibuprofen and so on. These drugs are extensively used and have been proven to be effective in many, many cases. Some recent research work indicates that these medications can actually, after prolonged use, accelerate the progression of joint destruction, and even cause more problems down the road. These drugs are also associated with such side effects as intestinal upset, bleeding, headaches and dizziness. The suggestion has been made that these NSAIDS can alleviate the symptoms while at the same time promoting the progression of the disease progress.
Attention is now being directed to two preparations,' chondroitin and glucosamine sulfate. The claim is advanced that such products, by stimulating the manufacture of new cartilage, correct the disease process itself; they address the cause of osteoarthritis. The claim is that by thus treating the root of the problem through actually building joint cartilage, glucosamine sulfate, and to a lesser extent chondroitin sulfate, not only improve the symptoms, including pain, they also help the body repair damaged joints. As far as the medical community is concerned the jury is still out in regard to these preparations. The veterinary literature on the other hand is replete with scientific verification of its benefits in dogs and horses suffering from arthritis. Send your queries to "Your Good Health", P.O. Box 30886 SMB.
