Food For Arthritis

Osteoarthritis is the wear and tear form of arthritis. It’s the most common of all joint disorders. In fact, osteoarthritis occurs not only in humans but just about all animals with a backbone – including fish, amphibians and birds.

By age 70, osteoarthritis affects almost everyone to some degree. However osteoarthritis (OA) is not a necessary part of growing old. Indeed there are many myths and misunderstandings about OA.

According to the medical textbook Merck Manual, many people will show evidence of OA on x-rays by 40 years of age; but relatively few people at this age have symptoms.

Usually symptoms develop gradually and, at first, affect only one or a few joints. Joints of the fingers, base of the thumbs, neck, lower back, big toes, hips and knees are often affected. Pain, generally made worse with exercise, is the first noticeable symptom.

The weight-bearing joints are the worst affected; so it seems reasonable to expect that the more weight we carry around the worse the painful symptoms of OA might be. Diet, therefore, has a role in the treatment of arthritis; but up until recently it was accepted that the only role diet played was that eating too much makes you fat; being fat means more weight on the joints and more weight means more pain.

Now the results of a three-year study have shown that the nutritional supplement glucosamine can retard the breakdown of joints associated with OA.

The study, which was published in the journal The Lancet last month, involved more than 200 patients and demonstrated that symptoms improved after treatment with glucosamine, whereas they worsened in patients taking the placebo.

According to Professor Les Cleland, head of rheumatology at Royal Adelaide Hospital, glucosamine could play an important role in slowing the progress of OA. He said glucosamine is already known to offer modest long-term benefits from the symptoms of osteoarthritis, but this is the first time a major study has shown a positive effect on the structural changes in the disease.

Glucosamine is available without prescription in a variety of forms. Bioglan Joint Mobility tablets contain glucosamine in conjunction with a number of anti-inflammatory herbs, whilst the Joint Nutrition Twin Pack includes glucosamine powder and chondroitin, a substance which forms part of cartilage tissue.

Simple pain relievers, such as paracetamol (Panadol) or ibuprofen (Nurofen or Triprofen) will sometimes be useful to relieve the chronic pain of OA, and a balance of rest and suitable exercise is also an important part of OA treatment.

It’s interesting to note that the two animals which hang upside down, bats and sloths, don’t develop arthritis. We don’t suggest that’s the best way to sleep but a firm mattress, perhaps with bed boards, may be beneficial.