Dumaguing: Practical ways to manage arthritis

Saturday, November 12, 2011

THE WORD "rayuma" as used in the Philippines, either as a diagnosis or a joke to imply "you're getting old" is Osteoarthritis, the most common degenerative and oh yes, aging-related arthritis, in which, thanks God for the equality, males and females are both affected as they reach their 40s. In contrast to rheumatoid arthritis, which has a rather hard-to-explain auto-immune cause which affects more females, with symmetrical involvement of the smaller joints of the wrist, hands and fingers causing much deformity and pain, osteoarthritis affects the bigger, weight-bearing joints like the ankle, knees, pelvic bones and shoulders. Since weight is a factor in its causation or etiology, it is the cartilage in between the ends of two bones, which serves as cushion that is eroded and this erosion explains much of the pain and the resulting immobilization that patients suffer from.

Obviously then, people in their 50s and overweight or worse, obese people will develop arthritic symptoms and sad to say, the knees seems to suffer most. The fact that the pharmaceutical industry recognizes that osteoarthritis is a "growing-old" problem has not stopped researchers and the brightest minds in rheumatology on both sides of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans to come up with remedies to alleviate the pain because again, the sad fact remains, there is no cure for osteoarthritis - the older you get, the worse it becomes!

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Drugs and medicines for arthritis as well as rubs, massage and shots offer limited benefits and can cause side effects, mostly gastrointestinal. Notwithstanding the glowing claims of nutriceuticals and herbal companies and even some ethical pharmaceuticals that a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate offers that much-desired relief, research findings as well as actual clinical experience to say the most, have been equivocal.

This author is not stopping those who, by the name of their departed ones, swear that this or that medicine or drug helps them move around the house with ease and not get bothered in their sleep, much less suffer from stiff joints upon rising in the morning. However, it would make sense, if on top of that belief in a particular medicine, the patient takes a look at the following practical suggestions.

Lose that excess weight and make your knees smile with glee. Dr. Romeo Abiog of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of the Saint Louis University has adopted "lose that weight" as his mantra. Removing 10 pounds is seen to remove 40 pounds of pressure off the knees. Shedding more pounds would significantly reduce the pain. Or simply follow, the 1-2 lbs. loss of weight per week, and you will experience dramatic improvement.

Commonsense tells us that physical activity strengthen the muscles around our joints and of course, strong muscles keeps joints from rubbing against each other which would aggravate the erosion of the cartilage cushion. However, it must be emphasize that exercise should not be the high-impact activity seen in jogging which obviously would worsen the condition. Brisk walking and if you have access to a swimming pool, water exercises are best to make those joints flexible, mobile and agile. Get clearance from your family physician or cardiologist, and you may do stationary biking or actual cycling around the neighborhood.

Yes dear folks, don’t let rayuma enslave you!