Arthritis: A Grating Pain With Little Relief

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Remember how the hair on the back of your neck stood on end when the kid with a sheepish grin dragged his fingernails across the black board. Grating wasn’t it? Well, take that sensation and magnify it into true pain to imagine the agony millions suffer with arthritis. Instead of fingernails on a blackboard it’s bone against bone resulting in inflammation, stiffness and joint deterioration.

Of the over 100 forms of arthritis there are two which the majority of people suffer, Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The cause of either has not been found, but certain clues about both have been discovered.

Osteoarthritis (OA)

The most common form of arthritis in the United States is OA, with 21 million afflicted. It is ten times more prevalent than its nearest competitor, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). It is known that injury, or the wear-and-tear on joints contributes to OA. As the body ages the cartilage between the joints begins to deteriorate. The joint space between bones starts to narrow which eventually leads to permanent damage caused by the friction of bone-on-bone movement.

Men are more likely to develop the disease before the age of 45. Women on the other hand are more often to develop OA after the age of 55. The most common sign of OA is stiffness upon waking which lingers for an hour or more.

Over-the-counter treatment for OA vary from ointments with salicylate in them like Aspercreme and Bengay; to drugs like Advil, Aleve and aspirin which can cause stomach problems. Two of the most common arthritis drugs prescribed Vioxx and Bextra were both taken off the shelves in 2004, because they caused heart attacks and strokes in patients. Only Celebrex remains on the shelf. All three are COX-2 inhibitors. The body produces COX-2, a pain and inflammation enzyme, and COX-1 which protects the stomach’s lining. As these drugs repressed COX-2 it left COX-1 to fend for itself through the arteries. COX-1 causes the blood platelets to become sticky. Whereas, COX-2 widens the arteries. Together both kept the blood flowing, but the suppression of just COX-2 caused the blood to bridge within the arteries resulting in the deaths attributed to the drugs.

At this point prevention is the best medicine to stave off OA. Remain active by walking daily, controlling your weight, for every 10 pounds lost, 40 pounds of pressure is taken off your knees. Take care of yourself if a joint injury should occur. Promolife has a large variety of products that can aid in the recovery of an injury.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

RA is one of the 80 plus autoimmune diseases in which the body attacks itself. It is the more debilitating and painful arthritis. Because of this fact, early discovery and treatment is crucial in order to avoid permanent damage. RA seems to have a genetic element. Seventy to ninety percent of the people with RA test positive for the antibody Rheumotoid Factor (RF). Which is to not say that everyone testing positive will develop RA, or everyone who develops RA will test positive for RF. But, the numbers are so high it can easily be concluded the two are related.

It has also been speculated RA is caused by an infection generated from a virus, resulting in the immune system attacking itself in an effort to halt the microorganism.

With RA inflammation starts in the joints lining (synovial). Swelling of the synovial lining causes it to crowd and move into the areas surrounding it, causing pain and stiffness in the joint. The synovium tissue thickens which leads to enzymes to be released that eat the cartilage and bone in an attempt to bring down the increased size of the area.

As in OA, treatment centers on relieving the pain and inflammation associated with the disease. The same drugs used for OA are also used with RA.

As time goes on and the root causes of the dozens of varieties of arthritis are discovered, so shall its cure be forthcoming. Until then the best that can be done is to attack the symptoms of the disease.

Article written by Cat Pippin Lowe for PromolifeNews.com.
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