Alcohol Aides in Rheumatoid Arthritis Fight

Now it has been determined that drinking alcohol possibly can keep rheumatoid arthritis at arms length, perhaps because it diminishes the body's immune reaction according to latest research.

The drinking of alcohol possibly is guarding persons who already have autoimmune disease from progressing any further.

Dr. Guy Fiocco, assistant professor of internal medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and also director of rheumatology at Scott & White located in Temple, Texas, states that this is not really a new idea. There have been past articles that report alcohol possibly can be a safeguard. However, he wishes to let persons know that they are not in any way supporting the idea of using alcohol to keep rheumatoid arthritis from happening. Also, the writers of this study do not advocate drinking alcohol as a means to cure arthritis.

Dr. James Maxwell, head writer of the study and also a consultant rheumatologist at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust in England, remarks that they want to make clear that at this moment, these are initial findings and they are not advocating that any patient drink alcohol with the sole purpose as a way to treat their arthritis. They would also like patients to remember to regard the suggested government limits for alcohol drinking.

Published online July 28, issue of Rheumatology, corresponding to the background information of the study, past studies had been conducted using mice most of the time. The advantage of ethanol exposure among the mice appeared to be from greater levels of testosterone, according to what the researchers had written.

In this study, researchers had compared 1,004 healthy volunteers to 873 persons who had rheumatoid arthritis. Both of the groups were then divided up into four groups consisting of nondrinkers, those who did drink one to five times per month, those who drank one to 10 days each month, and those who drank more often.

Dr. Maxwell states of the study that they had discovered the arthritis was increasingly less acute as alcohol amounts went up, with a positive difference in comparison to those nondrinkers and also in the less frequent group.

The nondrinkers had four times the chance of getting rheumatoid arthritis than in comparison to those persons who had alcohol consumption in the highest category.

They had also observed that more a person had drank the lesser the damage of rheumatoid arthritis had appeared, which also included joints as displayed on x-rays and also lessened inflammation.

The link was observed in both men and women, however, it was stronger in the males.

Nevertheless, nobody can determine a reason for this association positively. According to Dr. Maxwell they think basically that alcohol possibly is having a reaction by lessening the immune system response which then induces joint inflammation, and possibly could have a moderate pain killing reaction.

Dr. Maxwell continues on that there is insufficient information on alcohol repressing the immune system. So have the reports are that persons who drink too much alcohol do have greater rates of the cytokines that induce inflammation and reasonable amounts of alcohol really may lower these levels.

The finding in this study had a slight difference than what is recorded in the recent study (that the degree of the disease had lessened with the use of more alcohol).

Due to the fact that researchers evaluated frequency of drinking, instead of the amount of consumption it makes it unclear as to just how much alcohol consumption possibly could be beneficial according to the researchers.

Dr. Maxwell does emphasize that their initial findings need to be repeated down the road.

Dr. Maxwell's final remarks are there is limits to any type of research where patients are asked to state their exposure to something like alcohol over a length of time. The researchers would like to suggest a future potential study more in depth evaluate the influence of alcohol drinking on rheumatoid arthritis, a study which documents alcohol consumption at that current time instead of asking about it later on.

In rheumatoid arthritis the immune systems assaults the tissues which align the joints which in turn cause pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints ceasing them to function correctly. In time eventually this disease may in fact cause damage to the bones and cartilage which are in the joints. Any joint in the body can be afflicted however, it is usually common in the wrists and fingers.

Conventional medicine treats this condition most of the time with non-steroid anti inflammatory medications (NSAIDs), disease modification anti inflammatory medications(DMARDs) and even steroids.

Persons with the disease can keep having symptoms regardless of the conventional treatments they are receiving or or experiencing side effects from them. Therefore, many persons are now using alternative medicine either instead of conventional treatments or in addition to the treatments.

Below are a few of the most common treatments sought to help to control the pain and inflammation, improve joint functioning and helping to deal with any side effects caused by conventional treatments they had received or are receiving.

Chiropractic

A study which had appeared in the Annals Internal Medicine (1999;131:409-416) had discovered that 63% of persons who visited a conventional medical practitioner for their arthritis also looked into alternative medicine as another choice for treatment. It turned out that chiropractic care was not only the most popular choice among persons but was also found to be the most beneficial. Chiropractic care was established to be the top of the list for alternative treatments to deal with this condition. It was noted that 73% of patients who had tried chiropractic care to be beneficial which placed chiropractic care second only to spiritual healing. What was amazing is that 71% of rhuematologists stated that it was perfectly fine for their patients to employ alternative treatments.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture can be beneficial for rheumatoid arthritis. Due to the fact it is a painful and inflammation condition in Chinese medicine it falls under the domain of Qi. It begins in early stages when it reveals great inflammation to a reoccurrant stage when deterioration becomes greater along with stiffness and a constant dull aching feeling. The treatment of acupuncture has to correlate to the stage the patient is currently in. Therefore, the acupuncturist will do an examination in order to conclude what stage it is in for the accurate acupuncture points.

It is stated the treatment will endure for about two or three days. So for effectiveness another appointment should be made within that range. You will not receive total results. There is little relief before you complete five or six treatment sessions.

It does eventually help to control inflammation, however because it is listed as a chronic condition sessions must be kept up. It can be relieved to some extent.

However, a few studies had displayed results that acupuncture combined with Chinese herbs such as Zhuifengsu it has been found to be effective.

Homeopathic

A few small studies have indicated that homeopathic medicine can be beneficial for this condition in the relief of pain and stiffness in the joints. A regular remedy solution is best advised by a homeopathic practitioner.

A few herbs that have been known to be used:

Arnica for patients with the feeling of bruising and soreness. Patient feels worse if they move or are touched.

Dulcamara for arthritic flare ups during cold and damp weather. They often have accompanying symptoms of back pain muscle stiffness and allergies.

The remedies can include:

Apis Mellifica used three times each day for major swelling but very little pain.

Berberis Vulgaris for inflammation of the knee.Sources:

USA Today

National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine

Dynamic Chiropractic

Hospital For Special Surgery

Internet Health Library

Holistic Online