If you have osteoarthritis or just your fair share of aches and pains, this is the blog for you. And if you don’t fall into either category, stick around anyway. I’m sure you know someone who might benefit from the following information.
Let’s Be Frankincense
Earlier this year, a study appeared in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy. In it, the results of some promising research on a frankincense extract were described.
Bone loss, sometimes known as osteoporosis, is a very common health concern in older women. Not only can it cause changes in physical appearance (a loss of height, curvature of the spine and stooped posture), but it can also bring about back pain from compression fractures and even broken bones. In addition to these terrible symptoms, it’s also important to note that healing time is often sluggish in our later years. Because of this reality, the best possible plan of action is to try and prevent bone loss before it occurs. But what if you’ve already lost some bone density? Are you only left with the conventional options of hormone replacement therapy and/or prescription medications? Perhaps not.
This past week, I learned of two new studies that question a few common misconceptions about arthritis. I thought it would be important to share these with you, as some of you may be avoiding these resources due to incomplete information.
If you’ve been diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia (early/mild bone loss), you’ve probably been told to engage in a form of activity called “resistance training”. This form of exercise is thought to slow down the rate of bone loss and, possibly, even increase bone density. But is resistance training the optimal form of exercise for bones? In today’s blog, I’ll present some new research that puts that assertion into question.
If you’ve ever had gout, you know exactly what it is. Gout is a type of arthritis that occurs when uric acid crystals form in your joints. Unlike the most common forms of arthritis, gout pain comes and goes. When it strikes, it can provoke intense, burning pain and swelling in the affected joints. The joint in the “big toe” is a frequent site of a gout attack.
There are conventional treatments for this dreaded condition, such as the use of anti-inflammatory medications and corticosteroids. But the standard medical care isn’t always successful and it’s not without risk of serious side effects.
A very dangerous complication that accompanies “normal” aging is the widely accepted loss of bone mineral density. The advice that’s often given to counter this process is to simply take an adequate amount of calcium and a little vitamin D for good measure. Both of these nutrients are essential for the promotion of a healthy skeletal system. But if those are the only resources you’re utilizing, then you’re missing part of the picture.
One of the primary differences between holistic and conventional medicine is that they often have different objectives. In conventional medicine, you’re often given prescription medications or surgical interventions to help address problematic symptoms. In the holistic medical model, your physician will often want to discover the root cause of your “dis-ease” and try to help heal the imbalance. The difference may seem ambiguous, but it essentially boils down to actual healing as opposed to simply masking or getting rid of troublesome symptoms.
If you walk into a typical medical doctors office complaining of feelings of anxiety and depression, he’ll likely examine you and if nothing is obviously wrong you’ll probably be given a prescription for some form of anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) or antidepressant medication. If, however, you go to a naturopathic doctor, you’ll likely be asked a much longer list of questions. Some of the inquiries may even seem irrelevant, but the condition of seemingly unrelated systems in the body may contribute to mental health.
Natural medicines are much like people. They’re complicated and they respond in vastly different ways depending on the given circumstances. In the case of herbal remedies, the issues of how a plant is grown, the extraction method by which the “active ingredients” are attained and the dosage administration can very easily be the deciding factors that determine its therapeutic potential. But there’s an important consideration beyond efficacy that should always be kept in mind – safety. The fact that something is naturally derived does not necessarily guarantee that it’s harmless. A recent study conducted on Tripterygium wilfordii (Thunder God Vine) provides an excellent example of the complexity involved in researching and selecting the best holistic options.
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