Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be a very painful and difficult disease to treat. RA is a chronic disease that affects over one million Americans, with more women developing than men.
It’s possible to have RA and not live with pain all the time. Some people have flares, times where the pain is difficult to manage alternating with time when it’s not too bad. Others live with the pain and disfigurement caused by the arthritis just about all the time.
With RA, the synovium (lining) of the joints becomes inflamed. This causes damage, which in turn causes pain and the disfigurement as the …read more

Canadians living with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis may benefit from a newly approved drug, golimumab (Simponi).

According to a press release issued by the manufacturer, Schering-Plough, the once monthly injection – alone or in combination with another drug, methotrexate, proved helpful in five different trials and patients who had rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, or ankylosing spondylitis found that, on average, their signs and symptoms had decreased.
Of course, this medication does have some side effects as all medications do, so doctors should be careful in prescribing golimumab. For example, patients with severe infections or who are allergic to …read more

According to a new study published in Arthritis Research & Therapy, a gluten-free vegan diet may improve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, which is not only a debilitating condition on its own, but also associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and cardiovascular diseases.
A research team at Karolinska Institutet has shown in a new study that a gluten-free vegan diet has a beneficial effect on cardiovascular risk factors in people with rheumatoid arthritis. The effect was seen when a group of patients who kept to a gluten-free vegan diet for a year were compared with a control …read more

Turmeric is a spice that features a lot in Asian, particularly Indian, cuisine. But aside from its use in flavoring food, it is also widely sold as a dietary supplement supposedly to treat a wide variety of ailments, including arthiritis.
However, nobody knows whether they are really effective, and what dosage is necessary.
Researchers from the University of Arizona set out to determine whether (and how) turmeric works as an anti-arthritic using animal models.
Dr. Funk and her colleagues then tested in animal models a whole extract of turmeric root, only the essential oils, and an oil-depleted extract containing the three …read more