Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Quality Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis

By Andrew John

Rheumatoid arthritis is a dangerous, painful and extremely frustrating form of arthritis. This autoimmune inflammatory disease attacks joints and internal organs alike, effectively causing problems in every activity one may want to do. The fact that rheumatoid arthritis always attacks both sides of the body at the same time, affecting the same joints on both sides only adds to the discomfort.

Many people think that because rheumatoid arthritis can't be cured, there is nothing they can do about it. As the result, they accept all the suffering - even though there is a lot one can do to improve the quality of life and slow down the progress of the disease. For one, they can count on the doctor's help - they won't give them a cure, but there are already some medications that will reduce the symptoms. Besides, there are several things they can do to make their life easier.

One thing that most people forgot about is to do exercises. Everything that will keep your joints moving will slow down the disease and improve your ability to move. Generally, most cardiovascular exercises are ok. However, you should still ask your doctor about it, especially if your condition is not perfect or if your internal organs are already affected. He should be able to give you a list of most beneficial articles as well as a list of those that you shouldn't do.

Pain is certainly the worst condition related with rheumatoid arthritis. While sometimes taking prescription pills to quell the pain is the only way to get rid of it, usually the best solution is to use heat or cold to reduce pain. The exact effectiveness of heat or cold may be different depending on the individual predispositions, so you have to check what works best. Hot showers can generally bring much needed relief to muscles and soreness, while ice packs work best to reduce pain in the inflamed areas.

As for the diet, a recent research report published in the Journal of Rheumatology points that Omega-3 fatty acids (as well as other fish oil acids) have strong effects on rheumatoid arthritis, reducing the pain and having some mild anti-inflammatory effect. Adding Omega Daily, a food supplement containing Omega-3 acids, might be a good idea indeed, though adding a decent amount of tuna, herring or salmon to your diet may have a similarly good result.

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