Arthritis

Arthritis Facts

There are more than 100 related diseases and conditions collectively known as “arthritis.” The most common forms include osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, bursitis, lupus, and gout. Though their causes may vary, these diseases often occur in or around one or more joints. Sometimes the problem is in the joints (as in osteoarthritis). Other times it is in the surrounding ligaments, tendons, or muscles (as in fibromyalgia). Some forms of arthritis are systemic and can affect the internal organs (as in rheumatoid arthritis).

Arthritis is the leading cause of disability1 (see Figure 1) among Americans and the third leading cause of work disability, after back disorders and heart disease.2

When only the best will do

Coping with Arthritis in Its Many Forms
by Carolyn J. Strange

It may begin as a slight morning stiffness. For the lucky person with arthritis, that's as far as it goes. But for millions of others, arthritis can become a disabling, even crippling, disease. Roman Emperor Diocletian exempted citizens with severe arthritis from paying taxes, no doubt realizing that the disease itself can be taxing enough.
One in seven Americans--nearly 40 million--have some form of arthritis. That number will climb as the baby boomers age.
The disease is physical, but also exacts a mental, emotional and economic toll.

"Chronic illness impacts a person's entire lifestyle--work, family and recreation," says Gail Wright, Ph.D., a rehabilitation psychologist at the University of Missouri, Columbia. To improve quality of life, doctors and health educators increasingly advise combining drug treatment with education, social support, and moderate forms of exercise.

Arthritis means joint inflammation. In a normal joint, where two bones meet, the ends are coated with cartilage, a smooth, slippery cushion that protects the bone and reduces friction during movement. A tough capsule lined with synovial membrane seals the joint and produces a lubricating fluid. Ligaments surround and support each joint, connecting the bones and preventing excessive movement. Muscles attach to bone by tendons on each side of a joint. Inflammation can affect any of these tissues .

Inflammation is a complex process that causes swelling, redness, warmth, and pain. It's the body's natural response to injury and plays an important role in healing and fighting infection. Joint injury can be caused by trauma or by the wear and tear of aging. But in many forms of arthritis, injury is caused by the uncontrolled inflammation of autoimmune disease, in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissues. In severe cases, all joint tissues, even bone, can be damaged.

Double Blind Study of Pulsed Magnetic Field Therapy of Osteoarthritis of the Knee

The general term arthritis includes over 100 kinds of rheumatic diseases, most of which last for life. Rheumatic diseases are those affecting joints, muscle, and connective tissue, which makes up or supports various structures of the body, including tendons, cartilage, blood vessels, and internal organs. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a wide variety of drugs to treat the many forms of arthritis.

The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis, affecting more than 16 million Americans. This degenerative joint disease is common in people over 65, but may appear decades earlier. It begins when cartilage breaks down, sometimes eroding entirely to leave a bone-on-bone joint in extreme cases. Any joint can be affected, but the feet, knees, hips, and fingers are most common. It may appear in one or two joints and spread no further. Painful and knobby bone growths in the fingers are common, but usually not crippling. The disease is often mild, but can be quite severe.

Treatment of nonunited scaphoid fractures by pulsed electromagnetic field and cast.

Second most common is rheumatoid arthritis, which affects 2.5 million Americans. It can strike at any age, but usually appears between ages 20 and 50. The hands are most commonly affected, but it can affect most joints of the body. Inflammation begins in the synovial lining and can spread to the entire joint. Highly variable and difficult to control, the disease can severely deform joints. Some people become bedridden. Others continue to run marathons.

An autoimmune disease affecting the whole body, rheumatoid arthritis can also cause weakness, fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle pain, and weight loss. Blood tests may reveal anemia and the presence of an antibody called rheumatoid factor (RF). However, some people with RF never develop rheumatoid arthritis, and some people with the disease never have RF. In about one in six, the disease becomes severe and can shorten life. Researchers hope to find ways to predict which patients should be treated more aggressively.

Compare the appearance of a normal joint with these two most common forms of arthritis.

Normal Joint: In a normal joint (where two bones come together), the muscle, bursa and tendon support the bone and aid movement. The synovial membrane (an inner lining) releases a slippery fluid into the joint space. Cartilage covers the bone ends, absorbing shocks and keeping the bones from rubbing together when the joint moves.

How to Recognize the Signs of Arthritis

Arthritis is an inflammation of the joint. The most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis, a non-inflammatory degeneration of the joint, followed by rheumatoid arthritis, an auto immune disease in which joins become inflamed. Both usually occur after the age of 40, and symptoms usually appear gradually over several years.

Steps:
1. Notice whether exercise causes an intensified ache in your joints. This is the first telltale sign of arthritis.
2. Take note if you experience stiffness in one or more joints in the morning that typically subsides after 15 to 30 minutes of movement. This may be an early sign.
3. Evaluate your afflicted joint for range of motion. Does the joint creak or cause you pain when you bend it to its normal limits? This may be a sign of arthritis.
4. Is your skin pulled taut over a joint due to swelling? Is the taut skin shiny? These symptoms are indicative of joint swelling due to either osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis (though they can also be signs of gout or an infection).
5. Test your afflicted joint for temperature. For instance, test your right knee joint by placing one hand on your right knee and one on your left knee, and feel for a temperature difference between the two. Hot joints can be a sign of rheumatoid arthritis, gout or joint infection. Cold, bone-hard joints are apt to be a sign of osteoarthritis.
6. Notice whether the joint pain is associated with fever or noticeable swelling. These are signs of rheumatoid arthritis or joint infection.
7. Pay attention if your joints have a gritty sensation, such that they seem to crackle and make noise when moving. In osteoarthritis, irritated cartilage and bones rub together, making a grating sound.
8. Check the location of the painful joints—are they located symmetrically? For instance, if you have joint inflammation in some of the fingers of your right hand, do you feel joint pain in the corresponding fingers of your left hand? This is characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis.

Common Types of Arthritis
Of more than 100 different kinds of arthritis, these are the most common:
Osteoarthritis
Also called degenerative arthritis. Occurs when the cushioning cartilage in a joint breaks down. Commonly affects feet, knees, hips, and fingers. Affects 16 million Americans, mostly 45 and older. About half of those 65 and older have this form.

Reported Healings of Arthritis

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis: In osteoarthritis, cartilage breaks down and the bones rub together. The joint then loses shape and alignment. Bone ends thicken, forming spurs (bony growths). Bits of cartilage or bone float in the joint space.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form, estimated to affect at least 21 million Americans.3 Laypeople sometimes refer to OA as “everyday” or “wear and tear” arthritis. A slippery material called cartilage covers the end of each bone and acts as a shock-absorbing cushion. In OA, cartilage starts to break down. Loss of that rubbery cushion in a joint - where bone meets bone - leads to symptoms of pain, stiffness, and swelling in the knee, hip, spine, feet, thumb, or fingers.

Current research contradicts accepted wisdom that OA “is a natural part of aging.” There is evidence that obesity is a significant risk factor in the development and progression of OA. Even modest weight loss can reduce the risk of developing OA. Once OA symptoms have begun, weight-bearing activities can help improve function. Physical activity and specific strengthening exercises strengthen the muscles around joints, which stabilize them, and enhance proprioception, which is a sense of joint position that the body uses to maintain balance. Moving joints through their full range of motion can reduce stiffness and pain. In addition, losing excess weight may retard the damage caused to weight-bearing joints (like knees) by obesity and may also reduce symptoms.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis: In rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation accompanies thickening of the synovial membrane or joint lining, causing the whole joint to look swollen due to swelling in the joint capsule. The inflamed joint lining enters and damages bone and cartilage, and inflammatory cells release an enzyme that gradually digests bone and cartilage. Space between joints diminishes, and the joint loses shape and alignment.

Immune system attacks the lining, or synovial membrane, of the joints. Joint damage can become severe and deforming. Involves the whole body, and may also cause fatigue, weight loss and anemia, and affect the lungs, heart and eyes. Affects about 2.1 million Americans, three times more women than men.

Rheumatoid arthritis result from changes in the body's immune system. For reasons not fully understood, the body's immune system attacks its own organs, in this case the tissues of the joints.

This auto-immune reaction causes inflammation of the joints, particularly of the synovial membrane that lines them. This causes an over-production of synovial (joint) fluid which, combined with the inflammation, causes the joints to become swollen and painful. If the process continues, damage to the cartilage and other soft tissue can cause joint deformities.

Acute Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis does not only involve the joints - it has other features, often described as "flu-like" symptoms. These are called systemic features which are: tiredness, lack of energy, loss of appetite, inability to sleep, perhaps some weight loss and a low fever.

Chronic Rheumatoid Arthritis

Gout
Causes sudden, severe attacks, usually in the big toe, but any joint can be affected. A metabolic disorder in which uric acid builds up in the blood and crystals form in joints and other places. Drugs and attention to diet can control gout. Affects about 1 million Americans (70 to 80 percent men), with first attack starting between 40 and 50 years of age. (See "Getting to Know Gout," FDA Consumer, March 1995.)

Ankylosing Spondylitis
A chronic inflammatory disease of the spine that can result in fused vertebrae and rigid spine. Often milder and harder to diagnose in women. Most people with the disease also have a genetic marker known as HLA-B27. Affects about 318,000 Americans, usually men between the ages of 16 and 35.

Psoriatic Arthritis
Bone and other joint tissues become inflamed, and, like rheumatoid arthritis, it can affect the whole body. Affects about 5 percent of people with psoriasis, a chronic skin disease. Likely to affect fingers or spine. Symptoms are mild in most people but can be quite severe.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Involves skin, joints, muscles, and sometimes internal organs. Symptoms usually appear in women of childbearing age but can occur in anyone at any age. Also called lupus or SLE, it can be mild or life threatening. Affects at least 131,000 Americans, nine to ten times as many women as men.

Juvenile Arthritis
The most common form is juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis diagnosis, treatment, and disease characteristics are different in children and adults. Some children recover completely; others remain affected throughout their lives.

Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia affects muscles and is characterized by diffuse pain, fatigue, memory difficulties, disturbed sleep, and specific tender points. It occurs more often in women.

Exercise is a key component of fibromyalgia treatment. Aerobic exercise has been shown to improve muscle fitness, reduce pain, and improve sleep; low impact activities, like walking, bicycling, or swimming, are recommended. Even for people who have been completely inactive and can only exercise a minute or two at the beginning, the goal is to slowly work towards aerobic fitness. Other treatments include medications to reduce pain and improve sleep, stretches to improve muscle tone, relaxation techniques, and pain management strategies.

Other forms
Arthritis can develop as a result of an infection. For example, bacteria that cause gonorrhea or Lyme disease can cause arthritis. Infectious arthritis can cause serious damage, but usually clears up completely with antibiotics. Scleroderma is a systemic disease that involves the skin, but may include problems with blood vessels, joints, and internal organs. Fibromyalgia syndrome is a soft-tissue rheumatism that doesn't lead to joint deformity, but affects an estimated 5 million Americans, mostly women.
The approximate number of cases in the United States of some common forms of arthritis.

The immune system and autoimmunity
The immune system includes two types of white blood cell, B and T cells, which recognise the difference between "self" molecules belonging to the body and "non-self" molecules from bacteria and viruses. B cells make antibodies which should only attach to non-self molecules. Each B cell makes antibodies to one type of non-self molecule. However, it can only do so if given "help" by T cells recognising parts of the same non-self molecule. T cells are, therefore, seen as directing antibody production.

Because T cells direct normal immunity, it has been thought that autoimmunity starts with T cells mistaking self for non-self. These T cells would then direct the production of autoantibodies by helping B cells which recognise self molecules. This sort of autoimmunity can be created in animals if the animal is immunised with self molecules, but usually dies down after a few weeks. This is quite different from autoimmunity in people and we think that human autoimmunity works in a different way.

Massage therapy

Massage therapy is one of the oldest methods in the gallery of health care practices. References to massage are found in Chinese medical texts 4,000 years old. Massage has been advocated in Western health care practices in an almost unbroken line since the time of Hippocrates, the "father of medicine." In the 4th century B.C., Hippocrates wrote, "The physician must be acquainted with many things and assuredly with rubbing" (the ancient Greek and Roman term for massage).

Some of the greatest physicians in history advocated massage, including Celsus (25 B.C.-50 A.D.), who wrote De Medicinia, an encyclopedia of Roman medical knowledge that dealt extensively with prevention and therapeutics using massage; Galen (131-200), the most influential physician in the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance worlds, who addressed techniques and indications for massage in his book De Sanitate Tuenda (which is translated as The Hygiene, meaning prevention); and Avicenna (980-1037), a Persian physician who wrote extensively about massage in his Canon of Medicine, which was considered the authoritative medical text in Europe for several centuries. A sampling of other noted advocates includes Ambrose ParJ, who wrote the first modern textbook of surgery; William Harvey, who demonstrated the circulation of the blood; and Herman Boerhaave, who introduced the clinical method of teaching medicine.
From 1873, when the term massage first entered the Anglo-American medical lexicon, through 1939, more than 600 journal articles appeared in mainline English language journals of medicine, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of Surgery, and the British Medical Journal. During the past 50 years, reports on nearly 100 clinical trials have been published in the medical and allied health literature. Many well-designed studies have documented the benefits of several methods of massage therapy for the treatment of acute and chronic pain; acute and chronic inflammation; chronic lymphedema; nausea; muscle spasm; various soft-tissue dysfunctions; grand mal epileptic seizures; anxiety; and depression, insomnia, and psychoemotional stress, which may aggravate significant mental illness. A larger number of studies also have been carried out in Europe, particularly in the former Soviet Union and East Germany. Unfortunately, the published reports on most of these have not been translated into English.

Magnetic Therapy

"The human body is electro-magnetic in nature.. We all know the brain and nervous system are electrical. By adding a balancing charge to your cells, your lifestyle improves because your cells are constantly energized and calibrated. Magnetic fields affect the charge of the cell membrane, which allows membrane channels to open up. These channels are like the doors and windows of a house. By opening cell channels, nutrients are better able to enter the cell, and waste is more easily eliminated from the cell. This helps to rebalance and restore optimum cell function.Thus, with continued use you will find you feel more vital because your cells are better utilizing the water, food and air you take in. Increased elimination of waste by-products also occur. This process could be referred to as "cell-breathing."

If you restore enough cells, they will all work more efficiently. Cells of the same type come together to make tissues, and those tissues come together to make organs. So, by restoring or maintaining cellular function, you will, in turn, restore or maintain organ function, allowing the entire body to function better. We all know that the body ages over time. Maintaining the function of every individual cell at an optimal level every day is an important part of slowing aging.

Cell“injury,” the state of a cell when it is not healthy, leads to disease conditions. Magnetic fields protect against cell injury by improving circulation, repair processes and energy, and increasing special stress proteins in the cells. These proteins are used to prevent cell breakdown and wear and tear as well as help speed recovery from injury. Magnetic fields balance cells, tissues and bodily functions at very fundamental levels, even before damage and problems become obvious to you.

Magnetic fields have been found in extensive research in Europe, in humans and all kinds of animal species, to have many positive actions in the body. The medical magnetic fields work by stimulating the acupuncture system, the immune system of the body, improving circulation and oxygen levels in tissues, relaxing muscles, stimulating tissue healing, healing fractures and strengthening bones faster, decreasing nerve irritability, removing swelling, decreasing clotting and improving cell metabolism. Some very strong magnetic fields can actually stimulate muscles and nerves – used for incontinence, rebuilding muscles, nerves and depression

No-one knows exactly how bioelectromagnetic therapy works, but there are several interesting theories. Restoring electro-magnetic balance:- Each cell acts as an electro-magnetic unit producing its own magnetic field. During health, cells vibrate with their own characteristic electromagnetic frequency.

During disease, a cell's electromagnetic vibration changes. This effect is used to diagnose heart problems for example. During health, a heart trace (electrocardiogram or ECG) will show a particular pattern. If cells lack oxygen due to reduced blood flow in coronary heart disease, characteristic changes occur in the ECG that help to diagnose the problem.

In the most simple terms, magnetic therapy helps to restore health by helping cells regain their natural electromagnetic frequency.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Feb. 23 -- University of Virginia researchers published results from one of the first clinical research studies conducted on magnet therapy for pain in today's issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Although the results of the study were inconclusive, magnet therapy reduced fibromyalgia pain intensity enough in one group of study participants to be "clinically meaningful," the researchers said. more here

New research gives hope that early diagnosis, proper medical treatment, and self-management strategies can help optimize function, reduce pain, and improve quality of life. Individuals should consult with a health care provider for advice appropriate to their medical needs.

	Violet Ray Violet-ray therapy this is another convenient means of translating electric energy into the body, but in a more focused, localized mode. A low-pressure inert gas, such as neon oir argon, is contained in a glass bulb or tube and is electrified by high-potential, high-frequency Tesla currents. The device emits, when brought into contact with the body, an electric ray, seen as a reddish/ violet beam, a fascinating phenomenon to watch and feel. More
	Acupuncture Acupuncture deals with homeostasis or the body's ability to maintain balance. The person who is out of balance electromagnetically becomes ill and expresses specific symptoms. This explanation is simple to understand and best of all, simple to remember . Hopefully this allows us to have a much better understanding of electromagnetic balance and what might occur when each meridian becomes challenged. More
	PEMF Pulser (Magnetic Therapy) "By simple exposure of the body to pulsated low frequency magnetic fields stimulate cell metabolism, increase oxygen assimilation, and accelerate the removal of toxic chemicals and waste.PEMF, Pulsating electromagnetic fields can fully penetrate the body and reinforce weak functional cycles in a natural way. This allows the body to recover its self-healing capabilities. As a result, health and wellness improves". More
	Multi Pulser (Magnetic Therapy) 3 in 1 system "Cell“injury,” the state of a cell when it is not healthy, leads to disease conditions. Magnetic fields protect against cell injury by improving circulation, repair processes and energy, and increasing special stress proteins in the cells. These proteins are used to prevent cell breakdown and wear and tear as well as help speed recovery from injury. Magnetic fields balance cells, tissues and bodily functions at very fundamental levels, even before damage and problems become obvious to you.” More
	Rife Option 2H (Magnetic Therapy) Rife Pro The latest, powerful Rife frequency Resonator software technology. Its a Rife/Crane system Rife 10.2" Laptop Included Its a Bob Beck Zapper Its a Hulda Clarke Zapper Its a BT9 For Sleep and Depression Its a TENS unit for Aches and pains etc Its a CES (cranial electro stimulation) system It can be used as a Bob Beck type pulser (options 2-4) Over 700 Presets for hundreds for diseases with a Hulda Clark to Rife Frequency converter, giving you thousands of more frequencies with a few mouse clicks. TBSW Generator Pro : Similar to binaural beats, but used for theta healing, insomnia, pain relief and more. The TBSW Generator in Professional has features not available in our other systems. Export presets to wave audio format for making CDs for your clients or patients Chakra Tools : Align and balance chakras (the human energy centers) Sweep Generator : For assistance in finding your own healing frequencies (great for emerging diseases like H7N1 bird flu etc...) Ancient Tones - Hoyland System A Client / Patient Database
	Diabetes 20 Diabetes mellitus (DM) patients were exposed to impulsed magnetic field, 100 control DM patients received conservative therapy alone. 270 patients had microangiopathy, macroangiopathy was diagnosed in 50 patients. Magnetotherapy in combination with conservative methods gave good and satisfactory results in 74% of patients versus 28% in control group. Metabolism stabilization resulted in some patients in reduced blood sugar. Use of magnetic field produced faster and longer response than conservative therapy. PMID: 8999182, UI: 97062022
	MWO (Magnetic Therapy) The 70 trillion cells in your body are like little wet cell batteries that operate ideally at a voltage of around 70 millivolts. The cell membrane acts like a one-way rectifier that converts the earth's magnetic pulse into electrical potential energy, which "charge's your cells". This energy drives cell metabolism and helps to enhance oxygenation, ATP production and overall absorption of nutrition and essential elements into the cell and removal of wastes out of the cell. Without this energy, the cell voltage weakens and disease and illness sets in. More