I happened to stumble upon this podcast the other day..
It's from the BBC radio 4 "Inside Health" programme from 11/09/2012 which can be found as a podcast on the I player radio App.
It gives a great insight into OA,claiming a joint replacement isn't always necessary,and the possibility of stem cell cartilage repair,which could become possible in the next few years.
It also explains how arthritis isn't necessarily as formerly thought a wasting disease..
Well worth downloading.
Thanks, I do believe that one and HOPE if I can control it all, no more replacements....Mine was at 72 and groin pain did it, pushed me to this.
Anyway, thanks...and an MD does Stem Cell Therapy now here in So. Cal. for joints and PRP which I posted about months ago here....
I've had Dextros PROLO in my shoulder and got good 3 yrs of relief.....Dextrose is mildest and least pricey form of this therapy for joint regeneration.
He is forever saying on his radio program on weekends, to stay healthy, stay away from doctors....and he is ONE.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not going to be able to listen to it unfortunately but I have been convinced for years that oa is not a wear and tear disease in the way that break pads or a carburettor wear out. There's more to it. I believe it is llinked like many things to the immune and hormonal systems. Unfortunately there does not seem to be the research happening to get to the bottom of the causes. Just more tablets to suppress the symptoms which might kill you in the meantime while waiting for crude and barbaric surgery.
Yes..it's well known now that OA is linked to our auto immune system, and there is no known cure as yet.
What the latest opinion believes is that by keeping the thigh muscles as strong as possible by excercising helps the muscles to support our joints,and that the inflammation in the joints is part of the bodies natural healing process,which is why we get "flare ups" of pain which comes and goes.
Going against old thinking is we shouldn't sit and rest for to long when we have pain,but make an effort to excercise and keep the joints moving.
I take the point to avoid Docs as much as possible,but some conditions if ignored can eventually kill you.
Although a minority of Joint replacements go wrong it is unfortunately our last resort,and is from what I know quite a skilled and technical operation,saving many folks from a life of pain and misery..and I now have little pain from my new hip which troubled me for 20yrs.. worsening significantly when I stopped riding my bike,kind of supporting the theory of keeping the thigh muscles strong??
I have pain now from my unoperated hip,but only take tablets as a last resort,the side effects of some can long term be worse than the cure.
Sorry but can't go with the keeping the muscles strong idea either. I was a mountain walker, a yoga practitioner and a dancer and a gardener. God, no wonder I was crippled!!! I had to stop doing them as the pain afterwards was unbearable. I did once read a book by an orthopaedic specialist who changed to gynaecology and he noticed that when women took hormone replacement therapy that their arthritic symptoms disappeared. My feeling is that movement causes inflammation that in a non arthritic person is neutralized by a chemical or hormonal process. For some reason that process stops working. I found that being in bed for a few days with a viral illness meant all symptoms of arthritis went completely. As soon as I started moving around again, back came the pain, etc.
I take your point..the pain can stop you exercising,it's a viscous circle.
I was also a landscape gardener and keen squash player for many years.
Wether or not this contributed to joint wear we will never know,it could have happened anyway?
I have found that my joint pain worsens a few weeks after a virus has cleared up,possibly caused by the immune system doing its work on healthy joints?
If the medical profession can't agree on treatment for OA what chance for the rest of us..Hmmmm.
I started dancing at about 12 yrs and danced and danced and when I hit 18 I ended up with lower back pain and now at 76 OA is bodywide....
Sugars are HORRIBLE for arthritis and a lot of other body systems....
So damn if you do and if you don't....
All my mother's sisters were horrible with OA but they all ate tons of sugary stuff all their lives, as did I for TOO MANY years.....
That goes for carbs too as they turn to sugar.
I go to my integrative MD once a year for my annual check up and labs but don't run to docs for any pain I have....
And I do a LOT of supps to keep healthier...avoid the pharma drugs as I ended up in the ER with stomach ulcer in the 80's from an anti inflammatory drug....that was my big WAKE UP.
I soak up alterantives, love the world of alternative healing.
Stem cells and PRP are promising and NOW the insurance industry has to get on board.....millions upon millions spent on surgeries and people still suffer.
Joy, I had two serious bleeds from my stomach and duodenum but I rarely took anti-inflammatory drugs but I did take low doses of codeine. I have been stuck on acid lowering drugs now for five years. If I try to reduce the dose, I become very ill with gastritis even though I don't take the painkillers anymore. I hate taking these drugs and putting up with the side effects. I know you have mentioned taking the liquorice supplements. I am too afraid to drop the dose of omeprazole as the last time I was bed ridden for a week and lost half a stone.Anything to share about this?
For Juliette: Having trouble posting here....so going to try this.
I know of many who are stuck on those nasty acid reducing drugs, many many side effects involved...
It doesn't happen often, but if my stomach gets a little funny feeling, I take some baking soda in 1/4 glass of water...it settles things right away...I haven't had to do that for a while now....really believe the DGL saves me as I do take otc pain stuff.....
I'd love for you to be able to try DGL even in addition to the drug and MAYBE slowly wean off the drug.....
My neighbor friend has a history of gerd/acid reflux and takes hardly any drugs, an otc pain med now and then, the otc pain years ago she claims caused her hearing loss..
Well, she's having good results with DGL but has not been taking any other drugs for the reflux stuff....she works and works on alternatives for that issue too... Neither one of us run to the pharma drugs as I know the damage they can also do. later....J
Juliette: What do you believe caused your stomach bleeding (ulcers) if you didn't take anti inflammatory meds....do opiads cause this, I didn't think that was the case, and you say low doses.
Working to keep body more alkaline is important too, vs too acidic.
There are food charts online titled: Alkaline/Acidic Food Charts....
Good info to keep in the brain on being more alkaline.
Perhaps our grandchildren and their grandchildren will benefit from all the practice upon us and not have to go through what we have been through.
Amen! At least they are working on it! I praise God for that!
I don't have ulcers. It's an inflammation of the stomach lining. Neither do I experience reflux. The first bleed came out of the blue with no symptoms before the bleed. I took the tablets for a few weeks and stopped. Then had another two years later. When I asked the consultant after an endoscopy what should I do? His reply was, "keep taking the tablets". They seem to have no clue about the side effects such as cognitive dulling. I was studying at university but found intellectual work difficult on the tablets. Obviously if I have to choose between that and bleeding to death, what choice is there? I suspect that it may be to do with the anger and frustration I feel at being trapped in a dead marriage to a severely disabled husband after a stroke. I can't do much about it unfortunately unless I come into a large amount of money.
such a lovely sentiment dawn...invokes good karma!
Joy4 what are your alternatives. And what does your diet consist of?
What kind of stem cell? Who does this procedure?
There is no definitive research that it works. There are a lot of claims. Usually from US doctors charging a lot of money for it. At present, research is focused on whether it may be another delaying treatment for OA - in other words it could not be used in end case OA and would not replace hip or other replacements. One day maybe. Or maybe not. But not now.