Rheumatoid Arthritis – Symptom relief and resources

Communication may sound like a very basic thing to do, but not a lot of people do it properly when they have arthritis. Arthritis causes profound effects on the daily life and activities and habits that were once easy and taken for granted have now become a lot more difficult. Therefore, arthritis does not affect only the person suffering with the symptoms but also the family, friends, and co-workers. The person dealing with arthritis should communicate and share their feelings with their loved ones. Also, they should express any need for assistance as well as conveying their need for patience, understanding, and support.

If you don’t already know, a person who has chronic arthritis faces a lot of life altering changes. Therefore it is important to learn how to: accept the limitations, better coping strategies, and adjusting life to the chronic pain.

Taking 4 simple actions may help a person to better deal with the challenges arthritis brings as well as maintaining a positive attitude. These 4 actions include educate, motivate, participate, and medicate.

Glamma-linolenic acid (GLA) is great supplement to treat arthritis. The fatty acids in the GLA is an evening primrose oil and in one study of 56 rheumatoid arthritis patients, those taking GLA everyday for a period of 6 months showed signs of less joint pain and stiffness as well as a better grip and strength. Always check the labels of oils to see the amount of GLA in them; usually the dose is 1,800 mg daily. In order to get it, one would need eight 1000 mg capsules of borage oil with each containing 240 mg of GLA. Like the fish oil, GLA can also thin your blood and react to other drugs, so it is very important to consult your doctor before taking this treatment.

According to a new Belgian study, glucosamine and chondroitin help lower the pain as well as improving the functions of the knees in Osteoarthritis (OA) and are very safe. John Klippel, M.D. who is the medical director of the Arthritis Foundation, says glucosamine is so great because it lowers cartilage loss and slows the progression of OA. In one study, glucosamine showed to reduce arthritis knee pain and disability 20% to 25% in patients taking 1,500 milligrams of glucosamine on a daily bases for 3 years. Although, glucosamine and chondroitin are typically used together, Klippel says that there is no proof that they work better together than alone.