Monday, February 23, 2009

So you have Osteoarthritis?

In previous generations, having arthritis was an excuse to rest and take it easy. After all, if the joints are already wearing thin, why stress them further? Right? No one wanted to risk further damage.

Those days are over. Now it is well recognized that just about any kind of exercise helps relieve osteoarthritis symptoms.

osteo = bone , osteitis = inflamed bone ;
arthro = joint , arthritis = inflamed joints ;
so, osteoarthritis = inflamed bone-joints.

With this laymen term, we can logically understand that dehydration can cause inflamed cells in the bone and inflammation in the joints, and common sense tells us that the remedy is just to rehydrate the affected body and these inflammation will ceased. And the moment the inflammation ceased, the pain signal will stop.

Arthritis takes many forms, but the "arthritis" most people taught to think of - the arches, pains, and stiffness that besiege the elderly - is osteoarthritis. Not every elderly suffer from osteoarthritis, so when you meet a doctor who give you "old age" as the reason for osteoarthritis, then is the time to look up another more enlightened doctor in your area.

As our population in our country gets older, the number of people suffering with osteoarthritis is also increasing. But osteoarthritis is NOT a natural part of aging. rather, it is a sign that there is something wrong in the body. First thing first to help any inflammation disease like osteoarthritis is to correct the patient's salinity and hydration, daily. Use water-cure protocol found in this blog.

We also know, for example, that arthritis symptoms typically get better with the patients' weight loss. And correct water intake daily has found to correct the body weight, too. In condition that the patient do not intentionally drink any dehydrating products like coke, colas, sodas, beer, coffee, tea, canned drinks.

Given that the number of people who are overweight is blossoming, it should NOT be surprising that more osteoarthritis cases are also popping up, and at younger age, too.

The symptoms of osteoarthritis are caused when the body do not receive enough water on daily basis, the cartilage that lines the joints wears down. The first and big question should be asked is why cartilage begins to break down in the first place.

Joints are not just bone and cartilage. Surrounding many joints is a synovial capsule, a membrane that secretes a lubricating fluid into the joint space. Ask any 10-years-old what is the main content in any fluid, and he /she will simply reply, water. That is true. Is the synovial membrane becomes dehydrated, it will then becomes inflamed, it produces enzymes and inflammatory chemicals (including interleukin-2, interleukin-17, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha), which can cause (after a long period, of course) the erosion of cartilage.

So it is not just the wear and tear of years of use that cause the joints to get painful. 'Dryness' in the joints also produce 'pain'. Rather, there is an inflammatory reaction that causes the repair process to break down so that joints are not maintained by the body the way they are supposed to be. Shortage of water can cause this inflammatory reaction to kick in, and if the supply is not met, after a prolonged period, established damage will occur.

The connection between obesity and osteoarthritis, then, makes even more sense when you consider that being overweight generally increases inflammation in the human body while at the same time increasing mechanical forces on the large-bearing joints. It is possible that this general inflammatory process is enough to set off inflammation damage in the joints. And indeed, losing excess weight and regain the ideal personal weight in respect to one's height helps reduce arthritis symptoms.

Walk as much as possible and ensure your body receive its daily water quota.
Of course, nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the main treatment for osteoarthritis. But then again, have it come your mind that usually people take drugs with water? It is the water component that do the remedy work more than the prescribed drugs per se. See the "solid paradigm"(drug) versus the "solvent paradigm"(water) in your body ? Although we typically think of NSAIDs (which include ibuprofen, naproxen, and ketoprofen) as pain-killer, their effectiveness is based on their ability to fight inflammation.

2 comments:

Its ME said...

Worth considering if you are worried about arthritis:
green tea, omega-3 fatty acids, and glucosamine. Although eating well and monitoring one's water intake daily will generally improve health.

The phytochemicals in green tea helped protect cartilage agaginst damage and breakdown . N on eknows whether green tea will also help protect cartilage in people, but it can't hurt to try. Green tea cannot replace water though.

Collin said...

Good One.

Keep sharing such important information.