Arthritis
 Because so many American suffer from arthritis it is often in the news. Some estimates say that one in three women and one in ten men have arthritis, usually referring to rheumatoid arthritis. Sometimes the information given is conflicting, or downright wrong. Something that I have heard over and over since I was a child is that Ibuprophen is safe to take on a daily basis to counteract the pain of arthritis. What is being discovered now is that many times this can lead to kidney dysfunction and even kidney failure.
Osteoarthritis is sometimes referred to as wear and tear on the body. Rheumatoid arthritis is looking more and more like a toxicity disease. One of the things that have been linked to those with arthritis is the perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) which are found in things like non-stick cookware. It is a chemical that the body does not know what to do with. It cannot get rid of it so over time it accumulates in larger and larger amounts. When the body sees something toxic it tries to get rid of it. If it is in the stomach it will vomit. If it sees it first in the bowels there will be diarrhea. If it gets to the blood stream it will first try to dilute it by retaining water, when that doesn’t work it tries to store it in places where it will do the least damage. The first place tends to be the fat cells, then the hair and nails, and last of all the joints. This sequence is not set in stone and the body can choose any of these as its first choice.
Other toxins have been linked to arthritis as well. These include birth control pills, cigarette smoke, chemicals in our food, air and water. Even the chemicals in our personal care products such as hair dye, shampoo, makeup, bath soaps and moisturizers have been linked to arthritis. Anything that doesn’t come directly from nature has a potential of adding to the possibility of developing this disease.
Toxic emotions such as anger and stress have also been linked to arthritis and other toxicity diseases. They cause the flight or fight hormones to be released into our bloodstreams. Given enough of these, over time, they can accumulate just as chemicals can and cause corrosion in the body.
How to ease the pain
One of the first things you can do to ease your suffering is to stop putting the toxins into your body. This means you have to look at all areas of your life: food, beverages, personal products, cleaning products and even emotions.
Another group of things you will want to stop putting into your body is a group of foods called nightshades. These are fruits and vegetables that contain a chemical that acts on inflammation the way gasoline does to a fire. These include: Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, blueberries, huckleberries , goji berries, and artichokes. They are hidden in things like tobacco, Worcestershire, steak sauce, and processed foods that contain the words: spices, flavorings, and seasonings.
Once you have eliminated the sources of your pain you can begin working on eliminating the pain through natural means. These include herbs such as ginger, turmeric, feverfew, aloe, and white willow. Essential oils such as peppermint, wintergreen and frankincense are also known as great pain relievers. I use a proprietary blend called deep blue that contains these and others. Not everything works for everybody, and sometimes the best is a mix. Right now my mother-in-law is getting the best relief from a mix of turmeric, aloe capsules and white willow. At other times a blend of enzymes that reduce inflammation does the trick best.
We don’t have to resort to pharmaceuticals with their side effects when we know the natural things that work for us.
Sources:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-09/uoea-ebc091510.php
http://www.naturalpedia.com/sulfor
http://www.naturalnews.com/039265_Teflon_arthritis_chemicals.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10166727
Arthritis and Rheumatism February 26, 2010 [Epub ahead of print]
The Ultimate Healing System by Donald Lepore, N.D. copyrighted 1985 by Don Lepore
Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC copyrighted 2006 by Phyllis A. Balch
The Complete Encyclopedia of Natural Healing by Gary Null, Ph.D. copyright 2005 by Gary Null
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