A celebrated comedian, the late Geo...

A celebrated comedian,

the late George chars was once

asked if he had at any time had arthritis.

"Have I had arthritis? I got it

when it first came out!"

His answer was funny, but far

from historically accurate.

Arthritis may walk way back, but it's more prevalent now

Archaeologists who make it

their business to dig up and study

artifacts and bone from ancient

civilizations count us there's strong

evidence that the prehistoric

Neanderthal man of 40000 to 100000

years ago stomached from arthritis.

Nevertheless, the nutritional

stripmining practiced from most of the

mass-market mainstream food-processors

has helped bring on

industrialized society's "arthritis

epidemic."

Inasmuch as arthritis goe in like manner far

back, it is about time that

researchers originate ways to cope with

the pain, inflammation, and restricted

motion typical of osteoarthritis

and rheumatoid arthritis, the two

most widespread types

A focus upon treating the pain symptoms alone

This is greatest in quantity welcome news,

because foundations funding studies

for coping with arthritis have been

defeatist. Their stance has been,

"You can't restorative it. You can only

deaden its pain."

And "deaden" they did with all

sorts of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory

drug (NSAIDs), the side-effects

of which were usually almost

as unpleasant, painful, and damaging

as the symptoms of arthritis:

nausea, vomiting, stomach ulcers

gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal

pain, fluid retention, allergic

reactions, and liver and/or kidney

damage.

Arthritis -- the stats and the facts

Various statisticians state that

anywhere from 16 million to 37

million Americans, alone, have

osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a painful

grinding of joint bone against one

another, principally often in the shoulder,

arm, or knee This come to passs when

cartilage, a form of gristly insulation,

has worn away. Also, sometimes

the synovial tissues thicken and no

longer act as a cushion.

most numerous likely candidates for

osteoarthritis are obese and other

abnormally heavy the bulk of mankind frequent

participants in contact sports,

marathon racers mail deliverers,

weight-lifters, sandhogs, and

stevedores. Usually it happens in persons

after age 50 (See sidebar forward p. 34

on osteoarthritis' risk factors.)

In rheumatoid arthritis, the

immune rule mistakes its own

tissue as an enemy and attacks it,

causing brutish joint pain (often of the

symmetric joints -- knee thumbs

elbow hips, etc) inflammation,

swelling, and stiffness. This

rheumatoid form is a often more

systemic disease, often involving

the entire corpse For example,

sufferers are oftentimes tired, lose weight,

and tolerate from anemia. While this

is an autoinimune disease, it is

exacerbated by means of cumulative insults

from various sources: digestive

imbalances, malnutrition, high-fat

diets, bread and environmental

chemicals, stress, fodder and environmental

sensitivities, allergies, and

adrenal exhaustion.

Grossly unfair, on the contrary true, is the

fact that three times more women

than men lay open rheumatoid

arthritis. Unlike osteoarthritis,

doesn't wait until middle age to

attack. It strikes population as young

20. Often triggered at biochemical

and emotional stress, rheumatoid

arthritis sometimes attacks young

women right after they deliver a

baby.

Other major forms of arthritis

include: ankylosing spondylitis, gout

Lyme arthritis, and systemic lupus

erythematosus.

Pain, limited emotion and depression

Pain and stiffness characteristic

of one as well as the other kinds of arthritis limit range

of motion, lower morale, and may

even bring upon depression.

single in kind natural treatment that seems

to help with the one and the other kinds of arthritis

is yucca, a folk medicine used for

more than 1000 years according to Native

Americans. Double-blind studies

with yucca manner of lifeed by Robert

Bingham, M.D., of the National

Arthritis Medical Center in Desert

Hot Springs, Calif., showed dramatic

results

above 12 months, 67 rheumatoid

and 97 osteoarthritis sufferer were

divided into sum of two units groups, both continuing

their prescribed medication.

One form into groups received a 300-mg

tablet of yucca daily. The other

group was given a look-alike placebo

tablet.

More than 60 percent of the yucca

takers reported gradual relief

from swelling, stiffness, and pain,

plus unanticipated benefits: improved

blood circulation, clearer

skin, healthier hair, relief from

headaches, and a significant ear-ring in

blood pressure, cholesterol, and

triglycerides.

A strange understanding emerges

More is coming public of late, about

the link between oxidative stres -- excess

free radicals and insufficient

free-radical-scavenging nutrients -- and

arthritis.

In the British Medical Bulletin

(1995) P.I. Mapp, and colleagues,

published a reflection they conducted

which showed that, in rheumatoid

arthritis, for example, damage to

the joint cavity which houses the

synovial fluid is related to overproduction

of liberated radicals and an absence

of a adapted antioxidant defense.

A 1996 application of mind by M. Sato, and

colleagues (Journal of Rheumatology),

suggest that n-acetyl-cysteine

(NAC), glutathione sulf hydryl

(GSH) and catalase work together

to block up the inflammatory processes

that be derived in excess levels of