SELF-HELP PREVENTION: PREVENTION OF ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATISM

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• Osteoarthritis often thought to be caused by too much exercise, in fact benefits from the right kind of exercise, according to a study done at Albert Einstein’s Medical Center in Philadelphia. The authors conclude that ‘by strengthening the muscles around the joints exercise makes the joint work better’. Stronger muscles mean less wear and tear on the cartilage and bone and less chance of a deterioration of the osteoarthritis. Other researchers argue that exercise helps because it increases the blood supply to the cartilage and keeps it healthier. When Finnish researchers examined the hip joints of seventy-four former championship runners they found less osteoarthritis than in a control group, not more as one might have expected.

If you exercise wrongly it can hasten the advance of the disease. Avoid exercising unless you have warmed up thoroughly-when your muscles are tight the joints move unnaturally. Learn how to swim, play golf, tennis or whatever properly so that you don’t make odd movements and put unnatural strains on your joints. If running is your sport, be sure to wear good quality shock-absorbing shoes and warm up well first. You should not exercise while using pain-killers or you could do damage to your joints without realizing it.

The worst thing for those with arthritis is to sit still. Swimming is the best exercise because it involves the use of so many joints. Walking through the water is also very good exercise if you can’t swim. When you immerse your body in water it becomes lighter. Your limbs float and so do not have to work against muscle and bone. You can use your own bath to do simple hydrotherapy for 20 minutes a day. Slowly the exercises you do in the bath will be easier to perform outside the bath too. After a few weeks you will be able to do things that you would previously have found impossible.

• Hot-and-cold therapy is also very effective. In a study at German-town Medical Center in Philadelphia twenty-four patients with rheumatoid arthritis applied an ice pack in a plastic bag to their sore knees three times a day for four weeks. At the end of the trial all of them reported more pain-free movements and increased muscle strength. They could stand up faster and sleep better and on average cut their medication dose by half.

The best way to carry out cold therapy is as follows. Take two packs of frozen peas (unopened) and wrap one round above the painful joint and one below. Cover them with a towel wrapped firmly round and leave everything in position for 20 minutes. At first you will feel coldness and burning, then numbness. This should last for 5 minutes or so. Carry on for another 15 minutes.

Arthritis of the hands and feet often responds to alternate baths of hot and cold. Carry out the frozen-peas treatment as above for 15-20 minutes and then plunge your painful hand or foot into a bowl of water at 110°F. Switch from hot to cold up to six times, putting the hand or foot into the hot water for 4 minutes and into the ice pack for 1 minute.

• Low-fat diets have been found to reduce the suffering of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This was first discovered by chance in a group of obese people in a diet trial. All the rheumatoid arthritics noticed that the pain got better as long as they were on the diet. The Pritikin Diet claims to work on 90 per cent of those who have arthritis in their hands, wrists and fingers and on 50 per cent of those who have the disease in their knees and hips. The diet mainly consists of complex carbohydrates (vegetables and whole grains) with very little fat indeed.