Osteoarthritis sends millions of people to the doctor every year.
When suffering from osteoarthritis, one or more joints in the body are painful, swollen, inflamed. Every movement and gesture hurts, farewell to games and exercise! Some people cannot even climb up or down stairs. Others are completely immobilized.
Anti-inflammatory medication, cortisone and chemical painkillers work well at first. You take them, and you can open a new jar of jam, crack nuts, and garden! You rediscover the small pleasures of life for several months, maybe even years. Then comes a crisis of osteoarthritis more violent and durable than usual. Trusting, you swallow pill after pill for a week, ten days, fifteen days … and you realize that not only the effect is not so effective, but your digestive system is upset: diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain and bleeding. You wonder if you should continue to take these medication, if pain is not preferable! Unfortunately, you’re right to wonder.
Osteoarthritis is caused by the inflammation of the cartilage, that cushion that protects the ends of the bones and makes them rub against each other smoothly. With osteoarthritis, inflammatory agents in the joints destroy cartilage, that cracks, and may disappear completely, leaving the bones bare. When you move, the ends of your bones rub directly against each other, that is what hurts and aggravates inflammation even more, and thus the swelling.
Current medication, including the newest ones, just block pain. They have no effect on the cartilage, which continues to deteriorate. That is why they are effective in the short term. In the long term, their efficiency drops until it becomes non-existent when all your cartilage has disappeared. And only the side effects are left (and they can be serious and dangerous).
Recent scientific research shows that natural medicine offers very interesting solutions against osteoarthritis. In fact, many people have managed to totally get rid of their pain with natural solutions.
To Kill Pain: HARPAGOPHYTUM Harpagophytum is now sold everywhere. This plant is harvested from the sandy deserts of South Africa and Namibia. The roots are used to make capsules that contain the principal active ingredients: harpagoside, harpagide, procumboside, procumbide, anti-inflammatory and analgesic substances. For people suffering from rheumatism, treatment with this herb usually brings rapid relief and can help to dramatically reduce the doses of drugs. Many say they no longer can do without it. Harpagophytum is said to be as effective as medication to relieve osteoarthritis -induced inflammation and pain, according to all the studies conducted on the topic .
GINGER, an unknown anti-inflammatory Removing the pain is not enough. It is also necessary to reduce the inflammation, because inflammation is produced by agents that destroy cartilage (interleukins). Ayurvedic medicine describes ginger (Zingiber officinale) as the plant of reference to fight inflammation of all kinds. Very recent research has confirmed the anti-inflammatory compounds of ginger. In fact, some researchers believe that ginger could be on par with the most recent drugs. Inspired by its ancestral use, researchers had the idea in 1992 to test ginger powder for osteoarthritis. After 3 months of use, the condition of three-quarters of the patients had improved. However, we are only at the beginning of studies on ginger in osteoarthritis, and have to wait for conclusions to be confirmed to confimr its effectiveness.
Slow down the disease with OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS The third strategic weapon against arthritis is a substance that can slow down the disease: omega-3. The efficiency of omega-3 is now indisputable and recognized by conventional medicine. These are fatty acids (constituents of fats) that are found in green leafy vegetables, nuts, fatty fish (anchovies, herring, mackerel, sardines, salmon), flaxseed, rapeseed oils, nuts and flax. Once absorbed, these fatty acids give rise to substances that have powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
To repair the cartilage: Glucosamine and chondroitin Finally, two natural substances may even help reverse the process of osteoarthritis, ie repair the cartilage and rejuvenate the joints of several years. In cartilage can be found “sponge-molecules ” (proteoglycans) that attract and retain water, thereby ensuring the flexibility and elasticity of joint tissues. Without them, the cartilage is unable to absorb shocks: it creaks, cracks and may wear out completely. For the cells of our joints to produce these molecules, they need two ingredients: glucosamine and chondroitin. Normally, the chondrocytes synthesize glucose from food after several biochemical reactions. But with osteoarthritis, the chondrocytes, even well fed with glucose, can no longer complete their task properly. Researchers found out that it was much more efficient to provide the chondrocytes directly with preformed glucosamine and chondroitin (in the form of supplements to take orally). These substances may in some cases stimulate the production of proteoglycans and normalize cartilage metabolism. Not only does it not degenerate anymore, but new cartilage can be created! .
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• The information provided in this article is solely for informational and educational purposes and should not be considered as personalized medical advice. No treatment should be undertaken based solely on the contents of this article, and it is strongly recommended that the reader consult licensed health professionals for any matter relating to their health and well-being.
