These Foods May Help Ease Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain

Have rheumatoid arthritis? Treat yourself to some blueberries and a cup of green tea. They’re among the foods that could ease the pain, swelling and stiffness in your joints and even slow progression of the disease, researchers say.

Dried plums, pomegranates, whole grains, the spices ginger and turmeric, and olive oil may also help. These foods appear to reduce inflammation, as well as joint stiffness and pain, according to the authors of a paper published Nov. 8 in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition.

“Regular consumption of specific dietary fibers, vegetables, fruits and spices, as well as the elimination of the components that causes inflammation and damage, can help patients to manage the effects of rheumatoid arthritis,” study author Bhawna Gupta said in a journal news release. Gupta is an assistant professor in the School of Biotechnology at KIIT University in Odisha, India.

“Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis should switch from omnivorous diets, drinking alcohol and smoking to Mediterranean, vegan, elemental or elimination diets, as advised by their doctor or dietitian, Gupta said. An omnivorous diet includes foods from both plant and animal sources. Incorporating probiotics – foods like yogurt and dietary supplements that contain beneficial microorganisms – can also help, she said.

Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis includes anti-rheumatic drugs, which can be costly.

“Supporting disease management through food and diet does not pose any harmful side effects and is relatively cheap and easy,” Gupta said.

My Take:
This report is interesting, but a little confusing. The Mediterranean diet is an omnivorous diet, including fish and occasional lean meats. It also includes wine, they drink quite a bit of wine in the Mediterranean region. The kids start about the age of seven.

The blueberries, green tea, dried plums and pomegranates are all good sources of anti-oxidants that limit or prevent damage to the body. The spices ginger and turmeric are both anti-inflammatory but turmeric reduces prostaglandins not typically found elevated in rheumatoid arthritis. Prostaglandins are frequently increased in musculoskeletal injuries, like osteoarthritis.

Ginger does reduce leukotrienes, inflammatory chemicals from the immune system that increase in autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis. However, ginger is typically not very effective in treating true rheumatoid arthritis. In fact, when ginger tests well and helps reduce the inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis, I question the diagnosis (which I often do).

Evidence Based Herbal Therapy

When consulting with a traditional physician about a common patient, the most common question is “What are your credentials?” I explain that I am board certified in nutrition and that my studies were at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.

I think my answer surprises most physicians and they can’t use my lack of education to dismiss my nutritional therapies. A resistant doctor will then ask for the evidence based research to support my treatment. Even when I provide the research studies, a few physicians refuse to accept nutritional therapy as valid and strongly object to their patient taking any OTC supplements.

The most amusing aspect of this stance is that the chemistry of most prescription drugs is poorly understood and the mode of action is often just a theory.

Recently I spent some time on PubMed. PubMed is online resource for published medical research. It is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the source for a vast majority of my blogs. NIH sends me a daily E-mail that summarizes recent research. Of late, I have found the topics lacked interest or were repetitive. So I decided to visit the source – PubMed.

The problem with PubMed is the sheer volume of information. There are hundreds or even thousands of research articles published daily. I limited my search to complimentary medicine and then plugged in some of my favorite herbs. What follows is a very short list showing the herb, the number of peer review published papers and one study title for your review:

• Gymnema – 143 papers “Anti-Obesity Effect of Gymnema sylvestre Extract on High Fat Diet-Induced Obesity in Wistor Rats”
• Echinacea – 1016 papers “Echinacea Reduces the Risk of Recurrent Respiratory Tract Infections and Complications: A Met-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials”
• Boswellia – 268 papers “A Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo Controlled, Crossover Study to Evaluate the Analgesic Activity of Boswellia serrata in Healthy Volunteers Using the Mechanical Pain Model” (This type of study is the “gold standard” in research demonstrating the efficacy of Boswellia by any standards)
• Ginger – 1925 papers “A Novel Component from Citrus, Ginger and Mushrooom Family Exhibits Antitumor Activity on Human Meningioma Cells through Suppressing the Wat/Beta-catemin Signaling Pathway” (Virtually every herb I reviewed had favorable studies on cancer treatment)
• Ashwaganda - 641 papers “Effects of Withania somnifera (Ashwaganda) Root Extract on Amelioration of Oxidative Stress and Autoantibodies Production in Collagen-induced Arthritic Rats”
• Tribulus - 211 papers “Tribulus terrestis for Treatment of Sexual Dysfunction in Women: Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study”
• Turmeric – 3179 papers “Curcumin Inhibits Apoptosis and Brain Edema Induced by Hypoxia-Hypercapnia Brain Damage in Rat Models”
• St. John’s Wort -2343 papers “Hypericum performatum Reduces Paracetamol-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Lethality in Mice by Modulating Inflammation and Oxidative Stress”

The Bottom Line:
The next time someone tells you that herbal therapy is unscientific folklore, just refer them to this blog or PubMed. Of note is that a vast majority of these studies were conducted outside the U.S. as the rest of the world is advancing herbal therapy rather than scoffing at it.

NSAIDs Linked To Higher Atrial Fibrillation Risk

Taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs appears to be associated with an increased risk for atrial fibrillation (AF), even after adjustment for ventricular end-diastolic dimension, known to be increased with NSAID use, a new study confirms.
April 8, 2014 (BMJ Open)

Patients using NSAIDs for 2 to 4 weeks had a 76% higher risk of developing AF compared with those who hadn’t taken these pain medications, researchers found.

The results suggest that the increased risk occurs shortly after starting treatment and may resolve over time, said the authors, led by Bouwe P. Kriijthe, Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The underlying mechanism connecting NSAID use with AF isn’t clear and “deserves further attention,” the authors conclude.

AF, a common arrhythmia in the elderly, is associated with stroke, heart failure, increased mortality, and reduced life expectancy. NSAID use has also been associated with myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure.
Researchers obtained a resting electrocardiogram (ECG) for participants at the baseline and then followed participants with ECG assessments during follow-up visits. They gathered data on NSAID use from collaborating pharmacies and categorized participants into current users (14 or fewer days, 15 to 30 days, and more than 30 days), past users (stopped for 30 or fewer days, 31 to 180 days) and never users.

Over a mean follow-up of 12.9 years, 857 of the 8423 participants developed AF. At the time of diagnosis, 261 had never used NSAIDs, 554 had used NSAIDs in the past, and 42 were currently using NSAIDs.

MY TAKE:
All the research on NSAIDs indicates they are effective anti-inflammatory drugs for up to 72 hours of use. Beyond that time, they begin to block the body’s anti-inflammatory pathways as well as the inflammation itself. The omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, which are essential for health, are chemically blocked by the NSAIDs. As a result, cell membranes can not repair cell damage and cell death increases rapidly.

In the US alone over 16,500 people each year die from taking NSAIDs. Most of them are over the age of 60. Less than one third have any warning signals. Most of the deaths are from GI bleeds, the remainder die from liver failure and heart attacks.

Television advertising misleads the pubic by recommending daily use of these potent drugs. “Just take two per day” for relief of pain is a possible death warrant.

AF is an increasing health issue world wide. Clinically, I find AF often resolves, or at least is a dramatically reduced in frequency, by reducing synthetic vitamin B1 (thiamine) intake and increasing natural forms of vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacinamide).

When grains are refined the vitamin B1 content is destroyed. The food is then enriched, by adding artificial B1 and other chemicals back into the processed food. Just look at that loaf of bread. The first ingredient is generally enriched flour. I suspect that like so many other health issues we face, AF is related to processed food in our daily diet.

Increasing the magnesium to calcium ratio can also be effective in reducing AF. Magnesium has a calming effect on the heart and nervous system. However, excess magnesium intake can promote diarrhea, so supplementation must be done gradually.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
If you must take NSAIDs for relieve of pain, do so sparingly. Don’t take them for more than three days in a row. You might just save your life. Try increasing your omega 3 fatty acids in lieu of taking NSAIDs. You might also try turmeric or curcumin as a natural anti-inflammatory herb. If the NSAIDs have stopped working, please stop them and try ginger or boswellia to reduce inflammation.