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There are many types of arthritis (disease of the joints). This topic is about rheumatoid arthritis.
What is rheumatoid arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes tissues lining the joints to become swollen, stiff, and painful (inflamed).
Over time, this inflammation may destroy the joint tissues. This can limit your daily activities and make it hard for you to walk and use your hands.
Rheumatoid arthritis is 2 to 3 times more common in women than in men. It often begins between the ages of 40 and 60.
What causes rheumatoid arthritis?
The exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis is not known. But rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. This means that the body's natural defense system attacks the joints. The disease also runs in some families.
What are the symptoms?
The main symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are pain, stiffness, and swelling in the joints of the hands, wrists, elbows, feet, ankles, knees, or neck. The disease usually affects both sides of the body at the same time. In rare but severe cases, it may affect the eyes, lungs, heart, nerves, or blood vessels.
See a picture of the most commonly affected joints .
Sometimes rheumatoid arthritis can cause bumps called nodules to form over the elbows, knuckles, spine, and lower leg bones.
How is rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed?
There is no single test for rheumatoid arthritis. Your doctor will look at your joints for signs of swelling or tenderness. He or she will also ask about your symptoms and past health.
You may have blood tests, X-rays, and other tests to find out if another problem is causing your joint pain.
How is it treated?
There is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, but treatment may help relieve symptoms and control the disease. Treatment continues throughout your life.
Treatment includes medicine, exercise, and lifestyle changes.
Experts recommend early treatment with medicines that may control rheumatoid arthritis or keep it from getting worse. Early treatment also may lower the chances that inflammation will destroy your joints and limit your daily activities.
Many of the medicines used to treat rheumatoid arthritis have side effects. So it is important to have regular checkups and talk with your doctor about any problems. This will help your doctor find a treatment that works for you.
At home, you can relieve your symptoms and help control your disease if you:
Rest when you are tired.
Protect your joints from injury by using special kitchen tools or doorknobs.
Use splints, canes, or walkers to ease pain and take stress off your joints, if your symptoms are severe.
Eat a balanced diet.
Exercise regularly.
Stay at a healthy weight.
If medicine, exercise, and lifestyle changes do not help enough, surgery may be an option. Total joint replacement can be done for many joints in the body.
It can be hard to live with a long-term illness that can limit your ability to do things. It is common for people with rheumatoid arthritis to have some depression. Be sure to seek the help and support you need from friends and family members. Professional counseling also can help you cope with long-term pain and depression.
Reishi has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat arthritis and other forms of inflammation for over 2,000 years.
Also known by its Latin name as "Ganoderma" or Chinese "Ling Zhi", Reishi medicinal mushroom is the most searched on the Internet with over 200,000 searches per month. And while not yet been shown to "cure all", the fact that modern research confirms as a modulator of inflammation may help explain why it has long been advertised as such in the East.
In fact, Chinese doctors have been prescribing Reishi extract the ages in cases of arthritis, bronchitis and other conditions involving any type of inflammation. Modern research in Asia, America and Europe confirm the validity of these uses. Of the 19 files used for this article, 17 reported positive results in the use or Reishi extract for arthritis. Only two studies were not conclusive, which were made by the same research team.
As for the anti-inflammatory properties in general, a study from India (2003) demonstrated that Reishi reduces inflammation in cases of acute or chronic edema by 56% and 60% respectively.
A previous study of America (1993) had shown that withdrawing water from G. pentaphyllum and Ganoderma lucidum has been found to possess significant anti-inflammatory activity.
The references are seven additional documents that contained all that the conclusion of the Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) has potent anti-inflammatory qualities. Other research has been conducted in Reishi extract that specifically relate to arthritis.
In 2006, Kenneth Blum published his results on the efficacy and safety of using the extract of Reishi for "joint health," providing "clinical data" to support his theory. That same year, a Chinese Bao Xi study concluded that most other Reishi herbal remedy commonly used in China seemed to have a "beneficial effect immunomodulators" in arthritis.
Do the benefits achieved influential on arthritis Reishi may have taken a big leap in 2007 when they discovered that GL-PP [Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides peptide] helped to significantly reduce one of the causative agents of rheumatoid arthritis known as RASF, short of "rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts." Several additional papers have been published summarizing the positive results in the use of Reishi against arthritis. Moreover, one study found that supplementation with Reishi helped balance the side effects of prednisolone that were experienced by some patients, including protein in the urine and cellular toxicity.
In conclusion, most research seems to support the use of Reishi extract in cases of arthritis and favorable for the excellent results obtained with patients suffering from this evil.
