Those of you who had the good fortune to experience the healing magic of Australian osteopath David Moore during his all too brief sabbatical here in Bali will know the blessed relief that an accomplished body worker can bring. Alas. Whenever we find a gifted healer it seems the time comes when they must move on. We are fortunate therefore to have another gifted practitioner of Chiropractic in fellow Australian, Dr. Tony Dawson, who thankfully appears to be with us for the long haul. The peripatetic Dr. Dawson previously covered the Island like a whirlwind out of the Ubud area. The good news is that he has opened a office, The White Lotus Wellness Centre in the Kuta area, from where he operates 4 days of the week. The Centre is strategically located at the bottom end of the 'Dijon Enclave' (another welcome addition) in the Kuta Poleng complex that is rapidly becoming Bali's Rodeo Drive.
One of the things I learned in conversation with Dr. Tony is the astonishing degree that people in Bali are suffering from inflammation of the joints and arthritis. It seems to be a curse of endemic proportions affecting both locals and expatriates alike. The wet and humid climate must play a large part in this but the other contributory are mainly dietary, leading to excess arachidonic acid and oxidative stress, each contributing to premature aging of the joint structure.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of inflammation. It is the kind that comes with the wear-and-tear of aging, affecting 70 to 80 % of the population over 50. But increasingly it seems to be happening to people much younger than that. The onset is marked by morning stiffness, cracking joints and a degree of pain. As it gets worse the pain increases, deformation and disability in varying degrees ensues. It also causes an enormous consumption of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, which invariably have undesirable long-term effects.
Osteoarthritis is mainly characterised by the degeneration of the articular cartilage but also affects the bone next to the cartilage. It is a gradual decay that most often affects the weight-bearing joints (knees, hips, spinal joints & hands) causing a thinning of cartilage and bone thickening leading to pain, deformation and progressive immobility. Modern medicine does not have much to offer these chronic conditions, only symptomatic temporary relief. Painkillers, medication by way of NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) & Cox-2 inhibitors are effective in reducing symptoms quickly but often cause serious side effects such as ulcers and gastro-intestinal bleeding. This is not something to take lightly sinceanti-inflammatory drugs kill over 7,000 Americans every year. What is even more to the point, in the long run they have been proven to actually worsen the condition by accelerating joint destruction.
In the days that Paracelsus suffered gout (an allied condition) anti-inflammatories brought fast and blessed relief but it never ever stopped another agonising attack. Permanent relief only came over time through detoxification and lifestyle modification. The lesson being, stop the pain with the drug, then get off the drug fast as you can and go find the cure before you get zapped again.
Unlike osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease also characterised by chronic inflammation and cartilage destruction that affects a far smaller number but three times as many women as men. Typical onset is at 20 to 40 years of age.
The last few years of research have brought hope to this rather dismal picture for both kinds of arthritic affliction, where temporary relief can only be obtained by using dangerous drugs that actually cause greaterdamage to the joint in the long run. Old herbal remedies such as ginger, nettle and willow bark, as well as fish oils plus the already well known cartilage constituents glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate have revolutionised the treatment of arthritis. These substances not only give symptomatic relief but actually intervene at the root of the problem and help the body rebuild functioning joints. They have been used to great effect in Europe for some time and increasingly in the US.
Nettle leaf is an herb that has a long tradition of use as an adjuvant remedy for arthritis in Germany. It works by reducing levels of TNF-a (tumor necrosis factor alpha) and IL1B (interleukin one beta) substances that play a large part in cartilage destruction and the inflammation process.
Ginger is mostly known to us a a spice and a flavor. In China it has long been used for medicinal purposes also, such as nausea, stomachache, rheumatism and toothache. Modern research has shown that it is also a powerful antioxidant and has strong anti-inflammatory effects.
Glucosamine sulfate, a natural remedy that has been used extensively as a drug for osteoarthritis in Europe and has been available in health food stores in recent years in the US. Glucosamine is a naturally occurring substance in the body that delays and relieves the symptoms of the disease, preventing articular degeneration.
Chondroitin sulfate is a major component of cartilage. Like glucosamine, chondroitin attracts water into the cartilage and stimulates the production of cartilage tissue. Likewise, it too has the ability to prevent cartilage destruction. Glucosamine in conjunction with chondroitin sulfate is more and more becoming recognised as the treatment of choice for osteoarthritis due to its ability to actually repair and improve joint function in addition to providing pain relief in ways that conventional treatment simply cannot do.
Willow bark is rich in salicylic acid, the basis of aspirin. Many plants, such as meadowsweet and wintergreen also contain the same compounds. Salicin has been shown to have both a lowering effect on pro-inflammatory factors and heightens anti-inflammatory factors. It has an increased effect when used in combination with fish oil. Surveys show that used by itself, salicin increased anti-inflammatory factors by 19% but when taken with fish oil the pro-inflammatory factors decreased by 69% as well.
Fish oil (EPA & DHA) and other Omega-3 oils like flaxseed oil have the ability to prevent stiffness and inflammation of the joints. In 12 published double blind & placebo controlled studies each lasting between 12 to 52 weeks, all of them showed that fish oil decreased joint tenderness and in the 3 studies also using NSAIDs, the medication could be substantially reduced. The most effective dose was found to be between 3 to 6 gms daily.
Oxidative stress: healthy food and the intake of a minimum of toxins is vital for our overall health, particularly in the case of vascular heart disease and diabetes. It is also a key factor in the development of arthritis, just as it is the cause of most chronic degenerative diseases. In order to counteract free-radical damage a diet rich in fruit and vegetables plus the addition of supplementary vitamins C and E is needed. As ever, you should research and find the best multi giving you the vitamins, minerals, amino acids and phyto-nutrients your body must have.
To summarise, unlike FDA-approved drugs, natural therapies for arthritis safely provide relief from chronic inflammation and pain. While FDA-approved drugs can cause cartilage destruction, natural therapies correct the underlying factors involved in arthritic cartilage degeneration. The combination of these methods will in most cases quickly ease pain, inflammation and stiffness and then go on to actually regenerate cartilage and restore joint function. The healing process takes 3 to 6 months. A far more attractive prospect than a lifetime of drugs leading to possible stomach problems and the continued destruction of the joints over time. Some people can be allergic to fish oil and people on anti-coagulant drugs should not take any natural anti-coagulants like salicin and fish oil. In which case consider a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin.
Apart from glucosamine and chondroitin, which are often sold together in commercial combinations, all the other remedies mentioned here would normally have to be bought separately, hardly a convenient option. They are however brought together in a product called ArthroPro, with a daily dose in the necessary therapeutic quantities:
For those who already suffer the agony of joint inflammation, know that there is a safe and effective alternative; for those of us who are just waking up a little more stiffly and creakily as time goes by, know that it doesn't have to be this way. Some or all of the above can certainly oil the joints & roll back time to a sprightlier day that was. That, and stretching exercise will do it.
"While stopping the pain, anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to destroy joints over time. Now there are natural means to stop pain & inflammation and which actually regenerate cartilage & can restore joint function."
