Over Forty and Loving It!

rheumatoid arthritis has been around for a long, long time. You may have heard oldtimer's refer to it as "the rheumatiz" or noticed knobby joints and pain. Lots of pain.

Rheumatoid arthritis affects one in 100 people, and is a chronic disease characterized by swollen, inflamed joints. An auto-immune disease, it most often afflicts three times as many women as men, and the onset is usually age 30 to 50, although younger people do develop the condition.

The disease progresses in three stages: first, the synovial lining of the joints becomes swollen and inflamed, leading to pain, stiffness, and warmth of the joint. The second stage is a thickening of the synovial tissue, and in the third stage this tissue excretes an enzyme that may digest the cartilage and bone, causing the joint to lose flexibility, shape, and alignment. A systemic disease, rheumatoid arthritis can, in later stages, affect other organs of the body.

Great progress has been made through drugs and therapy to controlling the symptoms of this disease, although there is no cure. The causes are unknown, although there are some theories that cite a genetic or environmental link, as well as a relationship to diet.

In lieu of or in addition to pharmaceutical help, some remedies include hydrotherapy, acupuncture, modified diets (to include vegetarianism), and a number of diet supplements such as:

• Fish oil: Take 1,000 mg, three times a day. Conversely, increase your consumption of fish
• Boron: 2 mg.
• Evening primrose oil: 1,000 mg. three times a day.
• Selenium: 100 mcg. daily,
• Vitamin C: 2,000 mg. daily.
• Vitamin E: 400 I.U. daily.
• Zinc: 22.5 mg.
• If you take NSAIDs for pain relief: vitamin B~: 100 mg.; vitamin B~2, 1,000 mcg. in tablets dissolved under the tongue. (These supplements may allow you to reduce your drug dose.)
• Copper salicylate: 2 mg. one time a day with meals, and zinc: 50 mg. two times a day with meals. Discontinue after six weeks if no improvement.
• Ginger (powdered form is available at health food stores): 500 mg. three times daily.

Sea cucumber has been posited as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis with promising results, although studies are still in the preliminary stages.

As with any type of holistic treatment, make sure to check with your physician before implementing.