The National Council on the Aging recently published the results from a survey of 1,000 adults who were previously diagnosed with OA (osteoarthritis). Comparing the results with a similar NCOA survey from 2004 revealed many changes in the treatment trends of OA sufferers. Patients age 50-65 reported a drastic increase in their pursuit of non-operative and alternative treatment options. A surprising number of patients reported that they discontinued the use of prescription medication entirely.
Pharmaceutical industry pundits may argue that these changes are an indirect result of the recent FDA report that found COX-2 inhibitors to be unsafe. Physicians were left with few effective medications for the treatment of arthritis. Its possible that a majority of the 43% who quit using medication had no other choice because COX-2 inhibitors were the only treatment that worked. They had to seek alternative options in the hope of finding some relief from the pain and stiffness associated with OA. As a result, pharmaceutical companies have lost a sizable piece of the market to medical alternatives like herbs, nutritional supplements, acupuncture, relaxation techniques and the like. Which could be why they are considering alternative approaches to developing safe prescription medications.
A new approach that is attracting a lot of attention from physicians is called “Rx Medical Nutrition”. This approach attempts to safely manage the nutritional requirements of OA patients with extremely high levels of natural food-based ingredients. Research has already been conducted to see if Rx Medical Nutrition is a safe and effective approach to treating OA. Both animal studies and human clinical trials demonstrated a significant reduction of pain and stiffness and an increase in joint mobility. Animals showed no significant side effects even when given doses 20 times the equivalent human dose. Humans reported no significant side effects as well. The conclusive results from all the studies prove that the resulting prescription medication is a safe and effective treatment for OA sufferers.
One company has already released a prescription medication (Limbrel) that was formulated using the Rx Medical Nutrition approach. It contains a proprietary blend of nutrients to safely meet the distinctive nutritional requirements of patients with OA. It is classified by the FDA as a “Medical Food” product and is generally recognized as safe. It is not for use by children under the age of 18 or women who are pregnant or nursing. The best part is that there are no side affects other than those associated with an allergic reaction.
The Rx Medical Nutrition approach looks to be a viable alternative to the traditional pharmaceutical methods. Time will tell if the resulting OA medication will provide the kind of relief that patients desire. One thing is for certain, thousands of OA sufferers would welcome the opportunity to find a new way to relieve their symptoms.
NCOA survey results http://www.ncoa.org/content.cfm?sectionID=61&detail=1023
Tell that to the OA patients who have tried everything. Trust me. These sufferers try every possible angle before they get a Total Joint Replacement.
Yet there are 350,000 TKA's performed each year. You think these sufferers would spend the money to have a TKA if they could just simply be cured in a month? I think not.
No responses please.
Nicely said Inman.
Great response Inman! This guy is just a jerk trying to get a reaction!
Just to add my comment to this thread, there is no cure for osteoarthritis. It certainly is important to adopt a beneficial lifestyle and diet, but that only helps you to live with the condition. Do not let anyone kid you that it is curable. Obviously, I cannot forsee what might be possible in the future, but at the moment I have to accept that I have a condition that I must live with. There is no alternative.
Norman
I have RA and truly believe that ifyou eat well..raw fruits and veggies, it will sincerely help. I also (FEEL) that when you make a statement that you will never be cured. You probably won't. I WANT to hear from those who have been helped with supplements and eating. We are all concerned and in pain or we would not have searched out this sight.Osteoarthritis is a degenerative form of arthritis in which the smooth layer of cartilage that covers the bone at our joints, is eroded. As a result the joints lose range-of-motion and can cause pain.
Yes, certain foods, some alternative therapies, painkillers and some other drugs, can all hep to ease the condition. However, none of these methods can replace the cartilage that has worn away, neither can they prevent even more wear at the joints (this is why osteoarthritis is classed as a disease that cannot be cured, at the moment),. It is a fact that if you live long enough you will probably have osteoarthritis, which is why it is sometimes called "Normal wear and tear", a phrase that I personally dislike.
Norman
Pama,
There are a handful of people on this site who ONLY believe in prescription meds and nothing else. Some people believe everything a particular doctor or field of doctors tells them. Osteo may be uncurable at this time but you can feel better one way or another. I still believe RA can be reversed in many cases. If you listen to one doctor who says "sorry you have this for life", then you will. If you really research and have the ability to try everything you may find what is needed to fix your particular case. Some people out there may think I am keeping a false hope alive. I don't think so. Even so, I would rathar have hope than sit there and believe my son is stuck. Be careful with too much fruit. Our rheumy put my son on a high fruit diet and his sed rate went from 32 to 40 in one month. Fruit is inflammatory, except cantaloupe, strawberries, and pink grapefruit. He went on an anti inflammatory diet and went from the 42 to 23 in one month and feels so much better. The diet is strict. It is more detailed than just staying away from certain foods.
Teech, Tellme more about this antiinflammatory diet! Pat
You need to read the book The Inflammation Free Diet Plan by Monica Reinagel. It was just published this January and has cutting edge new information on foods and diet. A few of the docs we work with were very impressed with this information. Go to good bookstore like Borders. They will probably have it or order it from any bookstore. It is a quick read that has many fooods rated positive or negative as related to inflammation. Some food you think would be good are not and some you think are bad are actually good. The good part is that you don't have to give up even the bad or negative foods. The object is to be positive at the end of the day. I could go on and on. Get the book you will be glad you did. You also asked about mercury in fish oil. The Carlson brands and probably many others are mercury free.very interesting info on the anti-inflammation diet...I plan on looking for the book tommorrow. All I can say is that I have not taken painkillers. I have looked for solutions rather than symptom-smoothing.
Natural foods and herbs are our daily diet. We use herbs and spices as condiments and in cooking. We eat vegetables and fruits. We also use fruits and its juices, herbs and herbal teas to cure illnesses like headache, cough, indigestion, flu, rashes, arthritis, heart problems etc.. The difference is some are more careful and eat correct natural foods to address their diseases. They, thru' years of experiences, have learned to sort out types of good and bad food. This group has benefited from eating selective natural foods and as such, are careful in their choice of foods. Others are more dependent on drugs, so natural foods are never in their priority. The emphasis is a contrast from the natural foods awareness group. Just like I have been postings that I do not need drugs but natural foods to treat arthritis for over fifteen years, I get negative replies, have been ostracized, and being projected as a fraud. How can these guys understand as they have not experienced what I have? But I have before, had experienced what they are experiencing as drugs dependent patients. So I understand their feelings, thinkings and problems. This is the difference. I have been hearing good things about Wild Oregano. Ha sanyone tried this? I believe you take a few drops under your tongue and can actually rub it right into the joint. We will be giving this a whirl soon but was wondering if anyone out there already has. Here is a list of things we tried but saw no results from- Sea Cucumber, Feverfew, Cetyl Myristoleate, Mangosteen juice, Green Mussel extract. Things we have had success from are - A strict Anti Inflammatory diet,Fish oil 6 tsp per day, 5000mg vitamin C, Vitamin B complex, Multi Vitamin w/iron, Iodine 12.5 mg,Vitamin D, cal/mag/zinc, and a capsule that has Glucosomine/Boswellia/tumeric/yucca/MSM/ashwagganha/and ginger. We are also trying the antibiotic Zithromax for 30 days. Teech7
I was lucky enough to discover that not eating ANY potato family plants gave me freedom from RA that bothered me [the big thumb joint one] and refusing to eat starch fixed the Ankolysing Spondylosis and then the minerals [and some vitamins] I took has taken care of all the other problems [Fibromyalgia] before any of them caused permanent damage. For that I consider myself blessed.
It does pay to listen to what your body is telling you. P ainkillers tend to cloud that. I'm in total agreement with you Arthy (you should get a different, more positive user name! Arthy is too close to Arthritis - we are what we call ourselves!) But, at any rate, I have not been on these boards in ages - good to see there is more activity on the nutrition/alternative therapy sites. After experiencing excrutiating pain from RA (what DR had Dx me as having), I went on a strict diet (blood test told me what foods to avoid), then had all 10 of my very old (and leaking) mercury fillings replaced, started taking extra calcium, fish oil and MSM - I have absolutely NO PAIN - it's been almost a year now. Keep passing the good word!
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