In the article from Environmental
Nutrition we discussed this week, we came to the conclusion that the author
of this article was promoting an overall healthy lifestyle (in addition to
traditional treatment) to help manage one’s arthritis symptoms. With the
“arthritis diet” idea becoming more and more prevalent, I decided it might be
interesting to look into a couple of the more prevailing and bizarre
diet-related arthritis myths that have emerged over the years, and examine them
for the possible “science” behind them.
Arthritis is the leading cause of physical disability in
older adults in the US. The word arthritis means joint inflammation, and it is
a blanket term for hundreds of rheumatic diseases and conditions that affect
the joints and the tissues surrounding them. Patterns, progression, severity
and location of symptoms can vary significantly depending on the form of
arthritis that one has. As we discussed in class, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid
arthritis are the two most common forms of the disease. Osteoarthritis (OA) is
a disease of the entire joint in which the hyaline cartilage surrounding the
joint begins to break down, resulting in molecular and mechanical events in the
joint that cause pain and inflammation. OA is characterized by focal and
progressive loss of hyaline cartilage, resulting in pathologies such as
joint-space narrowing, osteophytes and bony sclerosis. The joints that are most
commonly affected are the knees, spine, hands and hips. Disease onset is
gradual in OA, and tends to begin around age 40. Traditional treatments are
typically pharmacologic, mostly involving anti-inflammatories. On the other
hand, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is considered an autoimmune and systemic
inflammatory disease, which can manifest in multiple joints. The inflammatory
process affects primarily the synovial membrane of the joints, leading to
erosions of the cartilage and sometimes bone and joint deformity. RA can begin
at any age, and is believed to be the result of a faulty immune response in
which the synovial membrane is attacked by the immune system and broken down.
Treatments for RA have ranges from corticosteroids, NSAIDs, non-biologic
disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), biologic therapies, and
occupational and physical therapy. Both OA and RA can result in similar
prognoses of reduced joint mobility and eventual physical disability with
varying speeds of disease progression.
With the prevalence of arthritic disease being as large as
it is, many patients are seeking relief from their symptoms that traditional
drug and non-drug therapies just don’t provide. Among the many rumored remedies
for arthritis and arthritis pain are several diet-related myths that have
emerged over the years.
One claim is that drinking vinegar reduces arthritis pain
and disease progression by altering the pH of your blood. Natural health
advocates claim that joints become stiff and achy when acid crystals harden in
them and that the vinegar works to dissolve these crystals and flush them from
the body. While this sounds appealing, the truth of the matter is that neither
of these claims is valid. First, the things that we ingest do not alter the pH
of our blood because not only do our bodies adjust their pH before they are
absorbed into the bloodstream, but the gastrointestinal tract is designed to
absorb nutrients we need and eliminate the ones we do not through waste.
Another radical arthritis remedy is the consumption of
gin-soaked raisins. Years ago, Russian researchers reported that the compound
dimethyl sulfoxide helped to alleviate destructive joint changes in mice. Other
studies have claimed that different sulfur compounds like methulsulfonylmethane
helped to ease OA pain. The reason for soaking the raisins in gin comes from
the Middle-Age practice of prescribing juniper berries (from which gin is made)
as an anti-inflammatory. Despite the fact that these research findings were
inconclusive and not heavily supported, many arthritis sufferers utilized the remedy
when it was popularized by radio personality Paul Harvey in 1994.
Finally, there is the claim that red wine helps to alleviate
arthritis symptoms. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism showed that
patients taking supplements with resveratrol displayed suppression of the
action of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This incited a flurry of red wine and
natural health advocates who insisted drinking red wine, which contains
resveratrol, would improve arthritis symptoms. However, this study only lasted
6 weeks, included only 20 participants and did not involve red wine.
The combination of conflicting opinions, unreliable
resources and desperate arthritis sufferers has resulted in a number of
interesting ideas about what can help ease or prevent arthritis. It is unfortunate
that so many invalid claims not only gain as much attention as they do, but
often turn some patients away from traditional, research-based treatments for
their arthritis. While diet and nutrition should never be downcast, perhaps
they should be encouraged as an integral part of not only disease treatment, but
also overall lifestyle change.
Sources:
"Arthritis Basics." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 06 Aug. 2014. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
Linder, Larry. "Arthritis Food Myths." Arthritis Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
"Osteoarthritis." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 16 May 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
"Rheumatoid Arthritis." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 01 Nov. 2014.
Very interesting post! I especially agree with your last sentence about integrating a healthy diet into research based therapy. Perhaps individually the gin soaked berries and wine might not be significantly effective, but when coupled with research based drugs, they could be.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post, there are many natural remedies that supposedly help various diseases. This reminds me of one of the Kardashians, who drinks butter every morning because of the health benefits it supposedly has. The fact is there is no real science behind these remedies only promises that sound good. I really liked the example of vinegar. I thought it was funny that the reasoning behind this was that vinegar would dissolve the crystals and alter the pH of the blood. However, we know our body is designed to maintain a certain pH and will alter its cellular activities in order to achieve homeostasis. Overall, like you said, a healthy lifestyle is a must, but one needs to rely more on pharmacological treatment that is specifically given to them versus trying to find bizarre alternatives.
ReplyDeleteI found this post both interesting and a little funny. Like Jenna I particularly liked the vinegar example. I feel like that one showed how bad "natural remedies" can get. Not only is vinegar an ineffective treatment of arthritis, the therapeutic mechanism of lowering the bodies pH would be very dangerous to the patient. One of the factors the body most regulates is the pH, as any changes can drastically affect many of the reactions the body needs to carry out to stay alive. You may even say it was a good thing the vinegar treatment didn't work!
ReplyDeleteI think that the examples you gave are what leads us to be skeptical of "natural medicine". While I do think that there are many effective natural remedies, it is the baseless ones like vinegar and gin raisins that negatively affect the public's perspective on what could be a very promising avenue of medical treatment.
Great idea for a post, just like the “Environmental Nutrition” article we read in class says; there are many results to an internet search for “arthritis diets” and it is interesting to see some examples. I agree that it is an unfortunate consequence that these ineffective natural “therapies” may turn people away from professional help from a doctor. If someone forgoes treatment because they are simply drinking vinegar, they may be hurting themselves in two ways. One being not getting the relief they need because the vinegar does not work and they also risk damage done to the digestive tract by constantly consuming such a highly acidic food. I know plenty of people who suffer chronic indigestion because of poor diets and acidic foods and drinks.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very insightful post about the differences and similarities between RA and OA. Something that I find interesting that you mentioned was the age demographics that both RA and OA commonly effect. Too often are RA and OA considered to be diseases of old age, which sometimes this may be the case it is not always. A large percentage of the population that this effects are mid ages adults especially women.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned above the types of remedies that people believe help Arthritis such as gin soaked berries and drinking vinegar. While it seems somewhat ridiculous and these do not have any medical backing, perhaps for some there is somewhat of a placebo effect on alleviation of symptoms. Many at home remedies only have an effect based on the mental state and interpretation of the person taking these remedies.
It is curious that you mentioned arthritis is the leading cause of disability in older adults in the U.S. when stroke is the leading cause of disability overall in the U.S. according to the American Heart Association. One deals with excruciating pain and the other with death of cells due to not enough oxygen...I guess both could actually be related to cell death. Either way, loss of function is a result of the two diseases.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting read. Even though integrating a healthy diet into your life is a good thing, these food treatments seem like a quick fix kind of thing in a way (like the parasites for IBD) where one could think "Oh. I'll just take a sip of vinegar a day and I should be set." But honestly, it's sad to see how easily people are swayed into believing something so easily without doing further research on these claims. Ignorant consumption could, instead, cause a person to experience further discomfort from their disorder (arthritis) after all.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really great entry! I don't know about anyone else, but I would not mind being a test subject for the resveratrol or gin-soaked raisin experiments! However, this was a really great entry because a lot of people today will try their own remedies to fix sicknesses or pains before they go see a doctor. Its interesting to see how science and these myths have crossed paths.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of all of the quick fixes we have discussed in class. I found the vinegar myth particularly funny and kind of disappointing that so many people do believe these "remedies." I personally always worry about the side effects of these mythological remedies. Maybe one day there will be one that is scientifically supported.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post! It is interesting to see the lengths that patients will go to find relief for their symptoms. I agree with Alison that these remedies seem like quick fixes or old wives tales passed down from generation to generation. Although the theory behind some of these remedies would sound promising to a desperate patient, they should not be used in replace of proven effective medications and therapies. My thought when reading about these remedies is that it would take considerable amounts of gin raisins or high volumes of vinegar and wine to get even close to having any effect. These quick fixes just do not seem practical even if they were shown to be effective. I agree with your last statement that these remedies should not turn patients away from seeking research-based effective treatment for their condition.
ReplyDeleteLoved the title! I found the vinegar myth really interesting. My dad actually tried that one for a little bit and gained no results from it. It seems to me like even if it did work and changed the bodies pH that that is dangerous because our bodies are kept within a certain equilibrium range. Going outside of that range is dangerous, especially making the blood more acidic since it is already more basic as it is. I liked that you included red wine in this as well. We already know that a glass of red wine a day can be cardioprotective. Maybe having a longer, larger study dealing with arthritis and drinking red wine could show positive results.
ReplyDelete