Fit Fare

Like millions of people around the world, I suffer from osteoarthrits (AO) . My first signs were in a knee that had been operated on years ago, for torn cartilage. I learned that the same operation that relieved my pain at one time, was now contributing to painful arthritis in the knee. Since then, I’ve started to develop arthritis pains in other parts of my body, including my hands. I’ve also learned arthritis is one of those ailments like the common cold–hard to avoid, with no real cure.

What is Arthritis?

Arthritis is several different joint diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis is chronic inflammation of tissue surrounding the joints, which can begin early in life. Osteoarthritis, is a chronic degenerative joint disease causing the breakdown of cartilage, the tissue that cushions the joints, usually affecting older people. This loss of cartilage causes contact between bones at the joint, resulting in pain and stiffness. While there is no cure for OA, there are ways for people to deal with it.

Possible Causes of OA

OA is pervasive in the adult population, with around 70% of people over the age of 65 showing signs of it. Overweight people with sedentary lifestyles are prone to it. Repeated knee injuries or other sports injuries can lead to it as well. However, many slim, active people with no knee injuries suffer from it as well, which can be confounding.

Treating OA

The most common ways used to treat OA is the use of over the counter medications, such as aspirin, acetaminophen, or my favorite, ibuprofen. Each of these have side effects for many people, including bleeding in the stomach. There are also various types of mentholated or capasaicin creams on the market that help some people. My husband has had some success with taking glucosamine supplements, for his sports injury OA. New prescription NSAIDs can be used, but their long term effects on the body are unknown at this time.

Diet and Arthritis

There is debate about whether one’s diet can help manage arthritis. The “come and go” nature of arthritis makes it ideal for people to use alternative remedies and then associate any improvement with what they did or ate last. A person may eat a certain food and find that their arthritis feels much better the next day. Unfortunately, that is the nature of OA. My own OA waxes and wanes, according to different conditions. For instance, it is remarkably responsive to differences in the weather. During extremely hot weather, it seems to disappear, but wet, cold weather causes my knees to throb unbearably, which limits my mobility.

Many people swear that eating certain foods make their OA better. Like most anecdotal evidence, it has to taken with a grain of salt. It doesn’t make it untrue, but one must be cautious, without more objective proof. Researchers have conducted studies to see if diet does affect OA, with mixed results. In September 1993, researchers in Boston conducted a three month study with 60 people with arthritis. The people in the study were taken off their regular arthritis medications and given oral doses of Type II collagen, which is a major component in joint cartilage. The study found that that the collagen, which came from chickens, produced a measurable decrease in swollen and tender joints for the test subjects taking it. This study helped spark a intense interest in taking supplements to battle arthritis. Some people, such as my husband, find that taking regular doses of glucosamine reduces the pain in their joints.

Other studies have found that eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids may help the inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in certain cold water fish, such as salmon, tuna and mackerel. However, in the studies, people were given large doses of fish oil capsules, which could have side effects if used for long periods of time. Fish oil capsules are also expensive and lack many of the vitamins found in the fish themselves. For this reason, the limited results from the studies would suggest that just eating more fish with omega-3 might be the best thing to do.
One link between diet and arthritis is well established: The extra weight placed on weight bearing joints in obese people makes them wear out faster. So, the amount of food one eats certainly can affect the management of arthritis. Fasting has been found to reduce the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis temporarily. However, people do need to eat eventually, so this has limited benefits.

There have been few vitamin studies with humans, but research in animals found that taking more vitamin C could reduce the level of joint deterioration from OA. However, the few studies done with humans found no such results. In some cases, too much of some vitamins may make OA worse. This was the case in a study were rabbits given large doses of vitamin A showed greater deterioration of the cartilage in their joints.

In summary, scientific studies are somewhat disappointing in finding solutions for the management of arthritis through diet. However, it does show the advice most people, whether they suffer from arthritis or not, would do well to follow: If you’re heavy, lose weight, exercise, eat a balanced diet and include more foods with omega-3 fatty acids. It’s not a silver bullet, but it’s all we have now.