Arthritis

[Jonathan Peck]

Arthitis seems to run in my family. I figure that I've got about ten good years left before my fingers start to get deformed. I'm hoping that playing a fretted instrument will increase my longevity and delay arthritis indefinitely. Has anyone experienced this?

I got this idea in my head when I was about nine or so. I used to massage the huge calcium deposits in my grandfathers fingers. He came home one day with an acoustic guitar and told me the doctor had advised him that it would help his arthritis.

[JEStanek]

Jonathan,
If it's rhuematoid arthritis, I've seen ads for a new medicine that allegedly can slow the degeneration of the joints and deformities. It might be worth asking your Doctor about that too. Of course there are always other consequences of taking medicines... blah blah blah... I work for a pharmaceutical company (not the one making the mentioned product though) so NFI.

My family has a history of alzhiemers. I'm hoping learning new tunes will help engage my mind to hold that off longer too. It's wierd seeing your future ahead of you.

Jamie

[Brent Willis]

I've been dealing with arthritis for about 17 years. I take an infusion of a Biologic drug called Remicade every five weeks. The disease went to far before the drugs were available and I have a lot of wrist and finger damage. The drugs work great for the pain but they won't turn back the damage. So you are wise to keep the muscles active and seek help. I now play regularly and also take lessons from Mike Compton. On of the tings we have worked on is my inability to stretch to positions for chords and double stops.

You can still play with arthritis...heck, if the banjo player with Mountain heart can play with a partial hand, I can play with a few crippled fingers

[JGWoods]

Django could do it...

[Bruce Evans]

Arthitis seems to run in my family. I figure that I've got about ten good years left before my fingers start to get deformed. I'm hoping that playing a fretted instrument will increase my longevity and delay arthritis indefinitely. Has anyone experienced this?
Me too. I'm 58 and I can already see some effects of arthritis. I tell people it's the only thing I inherited from my grandmother. On the other hand, perhaps one day I'll have an excuse for my simple playing skills.

[Jim Roberts]

Go to http://www.drmcdougall.com and search for "arthritis." #Also, read the book entitled "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell, PhD. #

Arthritis runs in my family (unnecessarily) and around age forty-five I started getting it in my knees, elbows, fingers and shoulders. #After researching the topic (see above) I omitted 99% of animal products and all dairy products from my diet and, honestly, I no longer have any arthritic symptoms. #If I cheat and consume dairy, even a little, I can feel the arthritic effects within two days. # This worked for my oldest brother as well. #

Briefly, from the McDougall web-site...

"People's Most Common Affliction

Diseases of the muscles and bones are among the most common of all human afflictions, affecting all ages, but becoming more prevalent with years. Government surveys indicate in the United States approximately 33% of adults currently suffer from troublesome arthritis with symptoms of swelling, limitation of motion, or pain. Approximately half of all people over 65 years report having arthritis. The regions of the body most affected are the neck, lower back, hip and shoulder.

Arthritis means inflammation of a joint--no more, no less. The fact that a person has arthritis tells nothing about the cause or the cure. Joints can be inflamed as a result of an injury, such as from tripping and spraining an ankle. That's called traumatic arthritis. Joints can be infected with bacteria resulting in suppurative arthritis. Uric acid crystals can accumulate in the joints causing gouty arthritis. The causes of all three of these forms of arthritis are known and once the causes are stopped the joints heal. Unfortunately, most forms of arthritis are said by doctors to have "no known cause." And whether or not they will admit it, there is no cure to be found in modern drug therapy either.


Degenerative and Inflammatory

Arthritis of "no known cause" can be divided into two broad categories: degenerative arthritis and inflammatory arthritis. Degenerative arthritis most commonly represents a condition known as osteoarthritis. This is the most common arthritis found in people living in Western civilizations--seen in x-rays of the hands of over 70% of people 65 years and older. However, this same disease is comparatively rare in African and Asian countries, where people physically labor to survive (Br J Rheumatol 24:321, 1985). How can that be? Osteoarthritis is said to be due to wear and tear on the joints, so why is it less common among hard working people of underdeveloped countries? Nor does it explain why with light use, the hands of women often become twisted and deformed with age.

The inflammatory forms of arthritis include juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, and ankylosing spondylitis. These aggressive diseases affect less than 5% of the people living in the United States today. Classifying these inflammatory diseases by different names, such as rheumatoid or lupus provides no further benefits to the patient, because it does not lead to better understanding of the cause of the inflammation, or to the successful treatment of the disease.

People diagnosed with degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) have inflammation in their joints in addition to the long-standing damage (degeneration). This inflammation can often be stopped with a change in diet and the swelling, pain, and stiffness relieved. What won't change in either form of arthritis is the permanent destruction left by years of disease, leaving deformity, stiffness and pain. To understand how most people with arthritis can be helped by a healthy diet, I will focus on the more aggressive inflammatory forms of arthritis.


Hope for Arthritis Sufferers

Arthritis is not a genetic disease, nor is it an inevitable part of growing older--there are causes for these joint afflictions, and they lie in our environment--our closest contact with our environment is our food. Some researchers believe rheumatoid arthritis did not exist anywhere in the world before 1800 (Arthritis Rheum 34:248, 1991). It is well documented that these forms of arthritis were once rare to nonexistent in rural populations of Asia and Africa (Chung Hua Nei Ko Tsa Chih 34:79, 1995; Arthritis Rheum 34:248, 1991). As recently as 1957, no case of rheumatoid arthritis could be found in Africa. That was a time when people in Africa followed diets based on grains and vegetables.

These once unknown joint diseases are now becoming common as people migrate to wealthier nations or move to the big cities in their native countries. With these changes they abandoned their traditional diets of grains and vegetables for meat, dairy products, and highly processed foods (J Rheumatol 19:2, 1992; Ann Rheum Dis 49:400, 1991). For example, although unknown in Africa before 1960, African-Americans lead in the incidence of lupus in the US (J Am Med Women's Assoc 1998;53(1):9-12). The mechanisms by which an unhealthy diet causes inflammatory arthritis are complex and poorly understood, but involve our intestine and immune system."

See the referenced web-site for more information. #

Another positive note (besides arthritic elimination) is that I have gone from 208 pounds to 190 pounds. #Five extra pounds would drop off if I'd lay off the good micro-brewed beer! #I wish the weight loss equated to better mandolin playing!

[bluemtgrass]

If its R.A. first see a competent specialist. Regular M.D.'sometimes are woefully uninformed about recent advances
in disease modifying drugs.
2o years ago, my wife came down with it and at one point 15 years ago it took her two hands to turn the ignition key to start her car. A wheelchair was looming in our future. We then went to a specialist and today she is working part time, walks fine and is able to lift and hold our grandkids. They keep making just enough advances to come out with a new drug when the old one doesn't cut it anymore. You may have a lot longer than you think.. Be forwarned, I hope you either have money or a good medical plan.. The D.M.'s are VERY expensive. And they can have dire consequences. But they can also be a Godsend.. Goodluck.

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