But it is also a known fact that there is no cure for arthritis. What then is the point of research? Is it to simply come up with newer ways of managing it? The answer is yes. But there is a whole branch of researchers who have invested lots of talent in observing the development of this illness with a view to expose an observable pattern on how it begins.

Everyone feels sorry that a person they know and love is afflicted by this disease. But what can they do? You feel helpless that you cannot even prevent the next person from getting it. other than secondary osteoarthritis that is caused from repeated trauma on joints, most other forms of this malady are rather obscure when they are in their early stages.

Professor James Cook, who is with veterinary medicine and surgery, said that according to their findings, there is a pattern in the way canine arthritis begins. It is a matter of certain genes being found around the joints just before the disease is diagnosed. The research is still in its early stages and there are difficult in its progress.

While the researchers working with man's best friend have identified this gene, they have not yet been able to find a way of either knowing its source or interfering with its work there. It is hoped that once they establish such salient points, it is going to be possible to stem arthritis in people as well.

The problem has traditionally been to diagnose it early. If this research comes to a successful close, we shall be ahead of that goal already. This means that we shall not only diagnose early but pinpoint to specific individuals that they are at risk of getting the disease.

By so doing, many will change their lifestyles and improve their lives. This has already been suggested as a way of managing the illness of the joints. Exercise, diet, pain and inflammation control are current areas of concern with today's patient. It will soon be only a matter of diet, exercise and specialised pre-emptive surgery and pharmaceutical regimes. But that all depends on the route this research will take and the magnitude of its success. Professor James cook presented his paper at a meeting of the orthopedic Research Society in D.C. in February, 2005.

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The American foundation for the disease is a non-profit making organisation which has over half a million volunteers and close to 200 service points where information support and care for arthritis patients can be procured.

It is among the campaigns' strategies to get people to respond to this illness with greater understanding. For instance, specialised exercise techniques are taught to surfers as well as care givers so as to extend both the meaningful lives of patients as well as slow arthritis' ruinous reign. They hold workshops attended by members as well as other willing participants. Mainly, speakers range from sufferers, doctors and care givers, encouraging each other and bringing to light any new skill, medicine, herb, technique and confirmed therapies.

Diets are also crucial in the word spread by these foundations. As much as pharmaceutical companies are partners with these organisations. Members can easily see a specific leaning towards natural therapies, herbs and non-pharmaceutical cures.

Many patients are now aware that they can counter the disease by slowing its progress. In member meetings, the members share experiences and improve on each other's info package.

There is a magazine in America called Arthritis Today published six times in the year. Through this as in the audio-visual media, populations are put in greater awareness of this disease. It is not the only magazine that deals with awareness on the illness. Almost all medical journals, except those for specific diseases and concerns, have been giving information as well. The internet is perhaps today the most prolific in production and provision of material that the patient can find useful. With a click of the mouse, many sufferers and care givers are able to stay abreast with the world of arthritis. It is now possible to go straight to a site that features only the variety of illness that you are suffering from.

It will also assure you to note that about half a billion dollars have been used in the awareness and fight against arthritis by these foundations alone. The governments of the world have their own small outfits with regard to health ministry priorities and they are able to respond to this problem alongside other diseases and pressing issues.

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There is no doubt that hypnosis is a very effective  treatment of stress. When an individual feels he does not have the resources to cope with a task he is confronted with stress develops. Hypnosis works by changing perception, belief and ability to cope so the subject feels he is no longer incapable.

90% of diseases are caused by stress, said Dr. Lipton. Persistent stress starves vital organs of nutrients and oxygen. On the odd occasion this is not a problem but when it becomes persistent, diseases are likely.

It is not the situation you confront that is the cause of stress but by the way you perceive this situation and whether you feel you have the coping mechanisms to deal with it. hypnotherapyis a very effective treatment for stress because it changes your perception, expectation and belief.

Following hypnosis treatment, things that trigger extreme stress are converted to easy tasks because, you have the belief that you have the resources to successfully carry out anything you are faced with little effort on your part.

Hypnosis takes you down to a deep relaxed state and to brainwave level theta. At theta brainwave level, the filters that block unwanted messages to enter the Subconscious Mind,ease their tight grip and the hypnotherapist can alter attitude, belief and expectation.

Hypnosis is without doubt a powerful and safe treatment of stress and anxiety. Meditation is an effective tool and recommended for stress. It is, however, very difficult to see how a stressed person can relax, and if he or she cannot relax, meditation becomes very difficult. It is better to have hypnosis as an immediate treatment and then introduce meditation for the long term stress control and overall life enhancement.

Anyone who has experienced stress will tell you stress is an unpleasant thing. The fun goes out of your life and your libido goes away. Anger, rage, anxiety and depression are symptoms you can develop. During stress you become less creative and makes unnecessary mistakes.

Worse of all, because it triggers the fight or flight reaction, it shuts off vital nutrients to some organs of the body while at the same time stimulating the heart. Researchers believe this is the reason it is the underlying cause for 90% of diseases. Annually millions of days are lost in industry through stress and the cost to the health providers is enormous.

Attitude to stress can be changed by hypnosis and it is not just a treatment for your present stress but it gives you belief and coping skills to control stress in the long term.

In a hypnotic session, powerful post hypnotic suggestions are given not just on how to cope with your current situation but generally on all aspects of your life. Things a hypnotist will say are, “You are calm and relaxed. You will confront any situation calmly and know that if it can be done, you are very capable and competent to do it.” Effective post hypnotic suggestion enables you to adopt the attitude, “Now what is the best way to do this?” rather than, “I don’t think I can do this.”

So have hypnotherapy rather than drugs, counselling, CBT or psychotherapy for safe and outstanding results of stress. Bear in mind that hypnosis is simply a state of heightened awareness where your right brain becomes very alert. It does not analyse or filters like the left brain. While remaining in a deep relaxed state, the Subconscious Mind simply accepts positive suggestions.

Hyperuricaemia is a higher than normal blood level of uric acid. There are individuals with high blood uric acid levels and have never had an attack of gout. Are these people at risk of arthritis of the joints and kidney stones from urate crystals deposits? Yes they are.

Firstly the diagnosis of asymptomatic hyperuricaemia is made more frequently because of more screening, and blood tests for insurance purposes. Secondly you can break it down to primary and secondary types. In the primary type there may be a genetic link. In this case there is a deficiency of an important enzyme leading to excess production of uric acid. When this is severe (Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome), there are severe problems.

Secondary hyperuricaemia results from factors affecting the production and/or elimination of uric acid. These include medical conditions, drugs, metabolic conditions, obesity and alcohol consumption.

Sometimes hyperuricaemia is suspected when patients present to the doctor with tophi. These can be acute or chronic. An acute tophus is usually small and later soften when it becomes chronic. They look like small nodules and as they grow bigger, the skin overlying them looks shiny and feels smooth. Sometimes they can ulcerate and release white chalky stuff. If the patient is treated with allopurinol the tophi usually becomes smaller.

Dr. Phil Hariram

Arthritis Guide.

In the days before adequate treatment controlled the blood level of uric acid, chronic gout presented with multiple joint involvement and chronic poly-arthritis. Today this is rare and only found in patients who refuse medication, have poor compliance or unable to take suitable medication.

Here the acute gout attack will become more frequent. Then other joints become involved. The crystals deposited in and around the joints are needle shaped and I suspect this is why acute gout is so painful.

I had an elderly patient who had heart failure and was on large doses of diuretics and ace inhibitors. She developed acute gout. Her medication was looked at and altered. Unfortunately her uric acid level remained very high. She was started on allopurinol.

She developed an allergic rash to allopurinol. In fact everything the consultant prescribed gave her problems. In the end she had no medication and refused any attempt to try anything for her gout because she was worried about side effects.

She was put on a specific diet. Eventually she developed poly-arthritis. Her fingers had big nobbles for joints and she had problems walking around her ground floor flat. Tophi developed first on the ear then elsewhere.

A joint badly damaged by chronic gout will on x-ray show erosions, secondary calcium deposits and soft tissue swelling.

Allopurinol is the drug of choice in chronic gout. By maintaining the blood level of uric acid within the normal range, separation of urate crystals into joints and kidneys are prevented.

Dr. Phil Hariram.

Arthritis Guide.

The first explanation of podagra was in the sixteenth century by Burgamer, a German Physician. He said podagra is a pain in the feet with or without swelling which comes from dampness or drought.

Podagra is acute gout affecting the big toe and typically the first metatarso-phalangeal joint. It is as a result of higher than normal uric acid in the blood. Uric acid is mainly excreted by the kidneys.

Diuretics and other drugs can affect the function of the kidneys and reduce excretion of uric acid. This can cause elevated level of uric acid in the blood and acute gout.

Over indulgence in alcohol can trigger acute gout. Beer is the worse alcoholic beverage for gout. Port was linked to gout in the eighteenth century. At the time, port was stored in lead lined casks and lead diffused into the port.

Lead in the consumed port accumulated in the body and in the kidneys, it affected the ability of the kidneys to excrete uric acid. The imbalance caused high uric acid in the blood. This condition is called Saturine gout.

Sometimes podagra can develop following initiating treatment with allopurinol. Gross over eating especially seafoods and red meat can trigger podagra.

No one knows exactly why podagra is the commonest manifestation of acute gout. Some suggested that the first metatarso-phalangeal is used a lot and takes a lot of the body’s weight when walking.

Dr. Phil Hariram,

Arthritis Guide.

Gout develops when the level of uric acid in the blood stream is higher than normal. When this happens urate crystal are deposited in and around the joints.
There are two types of gout, primary and secondary. The body eliminates uric acid from the blood naturally and most of this (66%) is done by the kidneys. In primary gout the process of elimination is slow and as a result the uric acid level in blood remains higher than normal. This is called hyperuricaemia.

In this condition the level of uric acid in the blood gradually increases over several years and during this time there are no gout symptoms. In addition it is estimated that only 5% of people with high blood level of uric acid develop gout.

Secondary gout is as a result of other diseases or factors that can elevate the level of uric acid. Often it is the case that these diseases or drugs make the body produce uric acid faster than the body can eliminate it.

Drugs that can raise uric acid level are diuretics especially thiazides,low dose aspirin,pyrazinamide and cytotoxic drugs.

Medical conditions that can trigger gout include kidney disease, myxoedema, psoriasis, lead poisoning, sarcoidosis, obesity, myeloproliferative disorders and polycythaemia.

People on very strict (almost starvation) diet can have high uric acid levels. Hyperlipidaemia is associated with high uric acid level.

Urates are eliminated mainly by the kidneys. The renal tubules are the important part of the kidneys for excretion of uric acid. So anything that can affect the efficient functioning of the renal tubules can affect the level of serum uric acid.

Dr. Phil Hariram,

Arthritis Guide

Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis. In gout, crystals of uric acid is deposited in and around the joints. For this deposit of urate to occur, the circulating level of uric acid in the blood must be higher than normal.

Gout has been recorded through the centuries. Hippocrates wrote about it and urate crystals were found in the big toe of an Egyptian mummy.

Gout is more prevalent in males and high in affluent societies. This may be a dietary factor. In the old days the rich ate the expensive red meat while the poor could only afford grain. Guess who developed gout?
Acute gout is rare in pre-menopausal women and it is predominantly a male disease up to the age of 50. It usually starts after 30 years of age and more commonly between 40 and 50 in males. In women the first attack is usually between 50-60 years.

The first attack of gout is usually in the big toe and this is called Podagra. 70-90% of first attacks present this way.

Pain often develops at night and within a few hours the pain level can escalate to severe and throbbing. The big toe will become red, hot, swollen and very tender to the touch. This acute attack will resolve spontaneously but can take weeks. Medical intervention often shorten this episode.

After this first attack your doctor is not likely to start you off on long term medication because you may not get another attack for years. On the other hand, you could have another attack in days.

Dr. Phil Hariram,

Arthritis Guide.

Magnets were discovered in China and Greece. In China it was used in fortune telling and as a guide to building. By 1200 AD they were used in ships as compasses. Ever since, sailors and navigators have used compasses and the earth’s magnetic field to guide them in their journeys, whether on land or at sea.

Legends have it that Magnes, the Greek shepherd discovered the magnetic properties of lodestone when his iron staff was stuck to the lodestone and he was unable to dislodge it. Another legend has it that magnets were discovered in Magnesia, a place in Turkey.

Traditional Chinese Medicine which dates back to 2600 BC used magnetic stones on certain areas of the body to correct imbalance. The Vedas, dating back to 1500 BC, mentioned the use of lodestone in healing. The dead were buried with the head facing north to create harmony between the body and the earth.

Thales, a Greek philosopher, described the magnetic effects of lodestone in the seventh century BC. When St. Augustine arrived in Britain in the sixth century, he noted that lodestone was being used.

Compasses were developed where the lodestone was suspended by a piece of string, then later by a piece of wood in water. This was subsequently replaced by the dry suspension magnets.

In 1269, Pierre de Maricourt mapped the magnetic field around the lodestone. William Gilbert in the sixteenth century recognised the two poles, north and south. He also described the healing properties of magnets. Gilbert realised that iron rods left in a north south direction in alignment with the earth’s magnetic field, became weakly magnetised after 20 years. He suggested that lightning could magnetise iron. He also found that if a blacksmith heated an iron rod, and cooled with the rod lying in a north south direction, it becomes magnetised if the blacksmith hammered it while it is cooling.

The horseshoe magnet was developed by bending a straight iron magnet into the shape of a horseshoe. With the north and south poles so near to each other, the power of the magnet was doubled.

Iron magnets were heavy. Lightweight powerful magnets were soon developed. In the eighteenth century, carbon steel magnets were developed. It retained its magnetism better than beaten iron.

The first alloy containing magnet was developed in the early twentieth century and contained cobalt, tungsten, molybdenum or chromium. The next development was in the 1930s when iron was alloyed with aluminium, nickel and cobalt. These magnets were called Alnico magnets. These magnets were still metal based and therefore heavy to use.

In 1980s, magnets incorporating cobalt and samarium were used. They were the rare earth magnets. They were lighter and were used in industry. They were, however, expensive. In 1983, magnets using iron, boron and neodymium were produced. They were called Neodymium Magnets. They are very difficult to demagnetise and will remain magnetised for several decades. The process by which neodymium magnets were developed is called sintering. High temperature and pressure are applied to the powdered metals. This, however, means the magnets are brittle but this can be overcome by using a strong metal casing. A Neodymium magnet of say 8000 gauss weighs 20 gm while the comparable strength Alnico magnet weighs 90kg.

In the nineteenth century, Hans Christian Oersted, professor of physics at Copenhagen discovered that an electric current developed a magnetic field. In 1830s Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry independently discovered that a magnetic field produced electricity.

James Clerk Maxwell, a British physicist developed the Cork Screw Rule for calculating the direction of electrical flow when an object is moved in a magnetic field. In 1820 Andre Marie produced a mathematical relationship between electricity and the strength of the magnetic field.

Franz Anton Mesmer was the eponymous Viennese psychiatrist who developed the theory of animal magnetism. In his magnetic seances, Mesmer placed individuals in a magnetic tub, and made them relax. He then touched them, sending them into a trance. When they woke up, they were cured.

Pierre Curie discovered that magnets lose their magnetism above a specific temperature. This is now known as the Curie point. Edward Purcell & Flix Bloch developed a way to measure the magnetic field of nuclei. This led to the development of the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan.

In the 1960-1970 superconductors were developed. Magnets were cooled to absolute zero. These magnets can generate fields up to 200,000 gauss. It is used today in nuclear research.
Dr. Phil Hariram.

Arthritis Guide.

There are many arthritic patients and sufferers in pain that use magnets. Some are very certain that the magnets they are using are a great help.

There are no large controlled clinical trials to evaluate the benefits of magnets on arthritis.

Doctors in general do not think they work to relieve pain in arthritis. There are, however, amazing anecdotal evidence. There are stories that seem too good to be true.

A friend of mind, Steve, has severe back problems. He has a prolapsed intervertebral disc.
He could not stand for long and often made his journey to the toilet on all fours. After a MRI scan and other tests, his orthopaedic Surgeon told him he needed surgery.

A friend introduced him to magnotherapy. He placed a powerful booster magnet directly over the prolapsed disc. Within a week he was up and about. Today he wears a magnetic bracelet and although his disc is still out, he can do most things with care.

Experts think that a magnet placed over an artery will improve the oxygen carrying capacity of blood. This encourages faster healing. This theory is used in horse racing. Injured horses are fitted with magnets to speed up recovery and get them back on the track in the quickest time possible.

The most recent trial results showed that there was no real benefit from using a magnetic bracelets. The only benefits were placebo effect. The proponents argue that the improvements in animals confirm the benefits are not just placebo. They site circumstances where animals have made significant improvements after a magnet was fitted. A dog that needed to be lifted up unto the back of the car was able to leap in after having a magnetic collar, and many more similar stories.

Magnets are safe to use. The drugs that are used to help control pain and stiffness in arthritis come with risks. Often with magnets from a reputable company you get your money back within a specified time. If it does not work send it back.

The new alloy deodymium magnets retain their magnetic properties for 100 years. So one magnet will last a like time as long as you do not lose it.

Trial Results.

Here is a brief summary of a trial result published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Randomized controlled trial of magnetic bracelets for relieving pain in osteoarthritis of the hip and knee.

Tim Harlow, Colin Greaves, Adrian White, Liz Brown, Anna Hart, Edzard Ernst

BMJ 2004;329 (18 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7480.0-b

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of commercially available magnetic bracelets for pain control in osteoarthritis of the hip and knee.

Design: Randomized, placebo controlled trial with three parallel groups.

Setting: Five rural general practices.

Participants: 194 men and women aged 45-80 years with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee.

Intervention: Wearing a standard strength static bipolar magnetic bracelet, a weak magnetic bracelet, or a non-magnetic (dummy) bracelet for 12 weeks.

Main outcome measures: Change in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis lower limb pain scale  (WOMAC A) after 12 weeks, with the primary comparison between the standard and dummy groups. Secondary outcomes included changes in WOMAC B and C scales and a visual analogue scale for pain.

Results: Mean pain scores were reduced more in the standard magnet group than in the dummy group (mean difference 1.3 points, 95% confidence interval 0.05 to 2.55). Self reported blinding status did not affect the results. The scores for secondary outcome measures were consistent with the WOMAC A scores.

Conclusion Pain from osteoarthritis of the hip and knee decreases when wearing magnetic bracelets. It is uncertain whether this response is due to specific or non-specific (placebo) effects.

Dr. Phil Hariram,

Arthritis Guide.