Hello all, I was in physical therapy today and was reading a magazine while my foot was in the "hydrotherapy" pool and saw an article about radioactive isotopes.
The magazine was a regional one and since we live near the Hanford site (plutonium was created here during WWII) and my husband is an engineer at one of the DOE contractors I thought I knew a lot about it.
The ad was about a company that produced diagnostic and therapeutic radioactive isotopes. The ad stated that they were helpful with many life threatening diseases such as "Prostate cancer, heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis." This was a first for me hearing about its use for RA. Has anyone heard what they do for RA?
Good news! My RD finally came back into the country and I asked (ok maybe begged) to be able to go back on enbrel. I had an injection site reaction and she had told me to go off it 3 weeks ago. Wow, it doesn't take being off it for long for the pain and stiffness to come back. The physical therapy is really making a difference with the posteror tibial tendonitis too. I didn't realize how common it was to have this problem with RA.
I had a link to a monologue from a study in New Jersey (USA), but it is no longer viable and there is no forward...I _seem_ to remember an article that indicated this was "common" practice in Europe. However, my memory is not what is once was.
I did find several mentions on a quick WWW search with this being the most topical:
Magic Bullets
[quote] In addition, the rhenium isotope can be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis
in knees and other, fluid-filled joints. In this treatment the isotope
is bonded to compounds that are injected into the fluid of the joint;
the energy released as the rhenium decays helps relieve the painful swelling
and inflammation of joint membranes...[/quote]
I --know-- the information is out there, I just do not have the stamina to pursue it...
Yep, that's an oldie. People used to go sit in old uranium mines to help their
RA. I know a woman who went to Poland and sat in a radioactive mine
recently. It's also discussed in the New Arthritis Breakthrough. I can't
remember the exact connection right now, but it's something like the
radioactive isotopes either suppress your immune system or kill the
mycoplasma (I think it's time for me to reread The New Arthritis
Breakthrough). Anyway, it's been around for a while.Thanks! This was in a current magazine. I have PT again tomorrow and I will make a copy of the ad and contact the company. It can't hurt to ask. Luckily, I have family and friends that work in the nuclear field and will ask them about the information I find out.
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