Besides the less traditional therapies, like the wonderful effectiveness of the Indian cooking spice, Kurkuma, some notable strides forward have been produced using stem cells obtained from our own bodies. This, of course, gets over the issue of our own bodies immune systems rejecting the treatment.
Onderzoek
Because of stem cell research, trial treatments have already been completed by a group of medical researchers. Using patients’ own stem cells, which were obtained by removing a sample of fat from the patient’s own body. This fat sample then had the stem cells split out; and, under clinical conditions, the cells were ‘increased’ over a time period, before being injected into the patients bodies, in damaged areas of patients’ joints. The results were quite encouraging, and led to significantly increased joint mobility.
Currently, there isn’t any medical intervention, known medication or treatment, to block the progression of the disease, and many patients just need to always treat themselves with painkillers. Usually, further progression of arthritis will, quite often, finally lead to operation to replace the damaged joints.
Soorten artritis
Among the most frequent types of Arthritis is Osteoarthritis of the knee, this is most likely because our knee-joints usually undergo intense stresses throughout the course of our daily lives. Our knees take a pounding because of stresses during a life of walking; or, when turning and twisting if we’re playing different sports. Osteoarthritis can affect the principal surfaces of your knee-joint as well as the cartilage beneath your patella (kneecap). We’re likely to feel pain in the front and sides of the knees.
If you’ve got severe osteoarthritis, your knees might even become bent and bowed, causing one to walk with a limp. Your knee-joint can also become so unstable that it might give way when you place weight on it – this is often due to muscle fatigue in the thigh but occasionally due to damage to the ligaments.
Who’s more likely to suffer with osteoarthritis of the knee? Osteoarthritis of the knee is twice as common in women as it is in men; and, as it occurs, it usually affects both knees. It’s more likely to cause most problems from our midst to late fifties onwards.
Should I exercise?
Yes, because exercising helps to keep your muscles toned up and your joints supple. It is possible to take gentle exercise without putting too much strain on your joints. Protection of your joints and exercise work together, hand in hand.
Joint protection by gentle exercise reduces strain on you joint capsules and ligaments, which is becoming slack if you’re sedentary: but do recall, straining your joints can make this worse. Regular gentle exercise strengthens all the muscles and ligaments around your joints so that they can provide the joints the support they require.
Should I follow a special diet?
Being overweight definitely does place an additional burden on our weight-bearing joints (our spine, hips, knees, feet and ankles ), which is bad if they are already damaged or under strain; also, due to the way our joints work, the strain in our knee joints is five to six times our body weight, once we walk. If only because of this, it is important to keep a healthy weight. You can accomplish this by making sure you take regular exercise; swimming, as an instance, is really great for those who have arthritis because the buoyancy of the water supports our joints.
Eating a Mediterranean-style diet is very good for providing all the vitamins and nutrients we need. This should include:
- Plenty of fruit and veggies
- Lots of oily fish
- Snacks of seeds and nuts
- Good virgin olive oil.
Some people also take dietary supplements to help protect their joints, which are available in most health food shops. Generally speaking supplements are relatively well tolerated by our own bodies, but you need to speak to your physician about taking them as some can interfere with other drugs.
Should you choose to try a nutritional supplement, it can be a great idea to keep a written record of what they’re doing for you, and to base your choice on whether or not to continue if you detect whether there is any improvement in your condition.
Lifestyle plays a huge role in the prevention and treatment for Arthritis; and, because altering our life habits can be extremely tough to do, a lot of people find it useful to get together with others wishing to achieve the exact results. Good sound advice can be obtained from any hospital occupational therapy department, and they typically also provide joint protection applications where groups of people with arthritis get together to support each other through practicing and learning exercise activities together. This is a excellent idea, and may be among the desirable components of a general program for individuals suffering with arthritis.
