You don’t want to go wakeboarding or run a marathon anymore. All you want to do is wake up and be able to walk from your bed to the rest room without feeling like you can’t move.
Yet, suddenly you wake up feeling crippled and sore all over.
Even your fingers hurt. You think it’s temporary, but the pain gets worse each morning.
It lingers throughout the day. You wonder if it’s arthritis or osteoporosis.
If you ache all over, chances are it’s Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Click on diagram to see where it hurts.
EVERYWHERE! Your feet, ankles, calves, knees, legs, back, neck, hands, arms, shoulders, wrists…all your joints hurts.
The pain is equally distributed on both sides of your body. You start moving real s-l-o-w.
You tell yourself you are too young for this. RA can hit when you’re 30 or any time later. It can affect men and women.
But there are 2 1/2 times more women suffering from it. It’s a long-term disease that leads to inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues. It can also affect other organs.
Turns out, even a 5% weight gain could trigger it in someone who never had it. Inflammation. Now, they’re saying with obesity on the rise –more & more people will get it. And they say the cause is unknown. Hmm…
I’m thinking if even a slight weight gain triggers it, that’s a clue. A certain type of food may be triggering it.
Try the process of elimination to try to figure that out. One more thing…I say look at the 4 E’s first whenever your health is off-balance.
1) Emotions 2) Environment 3) Eating 4) Exercise
EMOTIONS: YOU SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD – My Dad loves to say that when my Mom nags him about something. Similarly, when you feel physical pain it can mean negativity repeating itself in your mind.
Eckhart Tolle, the author of “The Power of Now” says anger affects your physical health when you repeatedly think about something that happened in the past or you worry about the future.
He says those thoughts cause negative emotions, which cause physical pain. It’s the reason depression hurts or bullying. Negative words hurt. Literally. Negative thoughts hurt. Literally.
Tolle says anger is contagious. No one should be walking around angry.
Take the time to release it. You benefit. Everyone around you benefits.
Think of a record. If it has scratches, it skips. If it skips, you don’t keep listening to it. If you did, it would severely damage the record (physical pain). The record is your mind. Change it.
Meditate on the present moment. Empty your mind of all thoughts. It’s hard to do. Keep trying. Go to a quiet place. Close your eyes. Visualize releasing mental, emotional and physical pain. Focus on soft music, rain drops or simply your breathing. My favorite 3 words are: Let It Go.
ENVIRONMENT – You may not be able to change your environment, which is why eliminating anger is so important. If you have to stay in an existing negative environment, go to a different room, step outside or go for a walk in nature. Turning off the computer and all electronic equipment helps too.
EXERCISE – The best exercise for RA is stretching slowly first thing in the morning, walking, yoga and swimming.
Yes. Studies show that saturated fats may increase inflammation in the body. Foods high in saturated fats, such as animal products like bacon, steak, butter, and cream, may increase inflammatory chemicals in the body called prostaglandins.
Prostaglandins are chemicals that cause inflammation, pain, swelling, and joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis.
In addition, some findings confirm that meat contains high amounts of arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is a fatty acid that’s converted to inflammatory prostaglandins in the body.
Some people with rheumatoid arthritis find that a vegetarian diet helps relieve symptoms of pain and stiffness. Other people with rheumatoid arthritis, however, get no benefit from eating a diet that eliminates meat.
Is Omega-6 Fatty Acid Linked to Inflammation With Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Omega-6 fatty acids are in vegetable oils that contain linoleic acid. This group of vegetable oils includes corn oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, wheat germ oil, and sesame oil.
Studies show that a typical western diet has more omega-6 fatty acids compared to omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acid is a polyunsaturated fat found in cold-water fish.
Consuming excessive amounts of omega-6 fatty acids may promote illnesses such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. It may also promote inflammatory and/or autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Ingesting fewer omega-6 fatty acids and more omega-3 fatty acids, on the other hand, may suppress inflammation and decrease the risk of illness.
Many studies show that lowering the ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids contained in the diet can reduce the risk of illness.
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Does Menopause Worsen Rheumatoid Arthritis?
For women with rheumatoid arthritis, going through menopause can increase the intensity of rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. The link is likely estrogen loss, but reversing that loss hasn’t proven to help. Learn what can.
The link between
rheumatoid arthritis and menopause is a complicated one. Women with rheumatoid arthritis can expect that symptoms of
menopause will affect their arthritis pain. However, research has not been able to precisely pinpoint whatever direct links may exist between menopause and rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.
“There’s not a lot of data showing that menopause makes a big difference in RA, and I haven’t seen that clinically,” said Scott Zashin, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, and an attending physician at Presbyterian Hospital.
Estrogen and Rheumatoid Arthritis
The possible connection between rheumatoid arthritis and menopause appears to be estrogen, the female reproductive hormone that decreases in menopausal women. Researchers base this suspicion on certain key facts about rheumatoid arthritis:
- There are 2 1/2 times as many women with rheumatoid arthritis as men, indicating that the disease likely has something to do with female biology.
- Pregnancy floods the body with estrogen, and pregnancy is known to suppress rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.
- Three out of four pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis experience less pain and arthritis symptoms by the end of their first trimester. After they give birth, when their estrogen levels return to normal, 9 of 10 women experience recurring rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, and the symptoms are usually more severe than before.
- Osteoporosis, a disease characterized by a serious loss of bone density, has been linked to both menopause and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoporosis after menopause has been directly linked to reduced levels of estrogen in the body.
What the Research Shows
Research into direct links between menopause and rheumatoid arthritis is mixed:
- One study found that post-menopausal woman who received estrogen as part of hormone replacement therapy experienced no significant improvement in their rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. The hormone therapy also did not decrease women’s risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
- However, rodent research has found some ties between rheumatoid arthritis and estrogen. One study discovered that rodents with rheumatoid arthritis had impaired function of an important estrogen receptor in their bodies. Another study found that estrogen therapy did suppress arthritis and bone loss in rodents.
Symptoms of Menopause and Rheumatoid Arthritis
Despite this conflicting evidence, it is clear that symptoms of menopause might increase rheumatoid arthritis pain, if only because they make a woman feel that much worse, says Zashin.
Interacting symptoms also can create specific health challenges for menopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. These include:
- Osteoporosis. Rheumatoid arthritis already leads to worsening bone density loss, with the inflammation around the joints causing the bones to deteriorate. Inactivity due to arthritis pain and long-term use of corticosteroids for arthritis treatment might also lead to loss of bone density in patients with RA. Menopause may hasten this process, creating even more joint pain and increasing the potential for bone fractures.
- Loss of muscle mass. Menopause can cause a woman to lose some of her muscle mass. Muscles are crucial for supporting joints that are aching and inflamed as a result of rheumatoid arthritis.
- Fatigue. The inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis can create severe fatigue in some people. Feeling tired is also a common symptom of menopause, usually due to a lack of good sleep. Sleeplessness can compound the fatigue caused by rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.
For women who want a treatment that doesn’t involve taking medication, the answer is exercise. Exercise is an excellent therapy that can help you deal with symptoms of menopause as well as rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, particularly since they intersect. Exercise helps battle bone density loss, increase muscle mass, and improve sleep.
As researchers continue to delve into the connections between these two medical conditions, keep in mind that you have the ability to take action and combat these symptoms.
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WHAT IS RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA)?
Rheumatoid arthritis is a form of arthritis in which the joints become inflamed and very painful. Women tend to get rheumatoid arthritis more than men. The synovial membranes that surrounds the joint becomes inflamed and becomes thicker. These changes make it more difficult to move the joint. It can lead to the formation of tissue that can harden and form a bony ankylosis which is a fusion of the joint that prevents any movement of the
SYMPTOMS
Rheumatoid arthritis is accompanied by pain and swelling of the affected joint and can also create a fever.
HOW TO KNOW YOU HAVE IT
Rheumatoid arthritis can be diagnosed by a blood test that reveals a rheumatoid factor (antibodies) in the blood. X-rays are also used to determine if there is swelling of the effected joints.
Measures To Control Pain
Non-pharmacologic Measures
Non-pharmacologic measures to control pain include practitioner-administered treatments such as:
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Turns out, I’m not the only one that thinks there is a food connection. Look what I found.
CHEF FIGHTS RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS WITH ‘HERO FOODS’
Seamus Mullen, a chef and owner of the New York City-based restaurant Tertulia, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 2007.
He turned to traditional medicine to alleviate his symptoms, which worked quickly.
“I would get a tremendous pain in my joint, whether it was in my shoulder or my wrist or my knee – it would get very swollen, and it would hurt more than you can imagine,” Mullen said.
Mullen was a finalist on the Food Network’s Next Iron Chef, but a RA flare-up made it difficult for him to finish the show.
He began to question whether the food he ate was affecting his symptoms.
“Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, and our immune system directly responds to the food that we eat,” Mullen said. “We are what we eat – literally.”
Foods to feel better
So Mullen started experimenting with the foods he loved – and it turned out his favorites made him feel healthier.
That’s how his book, Hero Foods: How Cooking With Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better was created.
“I’d rather have vitamin A, E, all these important vitamins coming from greens instead of from a pill and having my liver process it,” Mullen said. ‘So, I’d rather get all the nutrients I need through a balanced diet instead of through a supplement.”
” . . . our immune system directly responds to the food that we eat. We are what we eat – literally.”
– Seamus Mullen, chef and restaurant owner
Mullen likes to use leafy greens when he is cooking, like kale and parsley.
Mushrooms also make the list of ‘hero foods,’ both fresh and dried, since they contain immune-boosting properties.
“My feeling is that I have an autoimmune disease (and) my immune system is constantly misfiring and causing issues in my joints,” Mullen said. “Everything I can do to bolster my immune system, to strengthen it, and put it in a better position the better.”
He said eggs are ‘hero foods’ because of their high concentration of protein and omega-3 fatty acids.
Anchovies get a bad rap, he added, but if prepared correctly, they are healthy and tasty.
“Anchovies are really important for your joints,” Mullen said. “I’d rather eat anchovies than take a bunch of glucosamine pills in the morning. This, to me, is the natural way to take care of my joints.”
Mullen, whose book is featured on Rachael Ray’s website, said he wasn’t ready to let go of his dreams at the age of 38 – so he’s fighting the RA battle with every step he takes.
He offers recipes on Ray’s site, as well as tips to dealing with RA.
“We will also take a real look into the lives of people who have various kinds of hardships, and have overcome adversity to find inspirations,” Mullen said on the website. “These people will remind us every day that no matter how hard we have it, how much pain we feel, we can go on.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/04/27/chef-fights-rheumatoid-arthritis-with-hero-foods/#ixzz1uNaaZqgF
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Further Reading:
Related articles (updates daily — check back for the latest)
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8 Great Home Modifications for Rheumatoid Arthritis (larkkirkwood.wordpress.com)
A Look Inside Rheumatoid Arthritis (massageenvy.com)
New Organic Medical Food Treats Rheumatoid Arthritis (aieverywhere.wordpress.com)
Can rheumatoid arthritis affect your lungs? (theadventuresofarthritisnfibromyalgia.wordpress.com
8 Great Home Modifications for Rheumatoid Arthritis (larkkirkwood.wordpress.com)
A Look Inside Rheumatoid Arthritis (massageenvy.com)
New Organic Medical Food Treats Rheumatoid Arthritis (aieverywhere.wordpress.com)
Can rheumatoid arthritis affect your lungs? (theadventuresofarthritisnfibromyalgia.wordpress.com)
Deciding on Rheumatoid Arthritis Surgery (everydayhealth.com)
More later…looking into claims that breast milk relieves RA. If you have RA and something has worked for you, let us know.
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