Hands Down: Outlasting Arthritis
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) —
You need one to open a jar, send a text and simply open a door. Your thumb is a complex maze of bones, muscles, tendons and nerves.
About two out of three postmenopausal women will suffer from arthritis in their thumbs, making everyday tasks painful. Now, a unique procedure allowed one woman to keep doing what she loves.
Nancy McRay was just three when she played her first note.
“My mother just put music in front of me and sat me in front of the piano,” McRay told Ivanhoe.
Since then, piano’s been her life.
“There was just a music reading gene that got passed to me,” McRay said.
But a few years ago, McRay’s passion turned to pain. Arthritis in her thumb made practice impossible.
McRay found a doctor well-versed in both pain and piano. Stanford University School of Medicine surgeon Amy Ladd, M.D., also plays.
“I understand the demands of an octave span and playing precision work,” Dr. Ladd told Ivanhoe.
The cartilage between McRay’s thumb joint and bone was thinning. Experts say women are 10-times more likely to get this type of arthritis than men.
“The majority of postmenopausal women who are Caucasian or Asian will likely get this arthritis,” Dr. Ladd said.
Surgery is an option when meds and therapy don’t work. Often, doctors cut, fuse or remove bones in the thumb. Dr. Ladd took a tendon from McRay’s forearm and put it between the trapezium bone and CMC joint in her thumb.
“Basically, creating some sort of natural pillow for that joint to rest upon,” Dr. Ladd said.
The relief put McRay right back behind the piano.
“It’s much, much, much better,” McRay said.
Experts don’t know why postmenopausal women are more at-risk for thumb arthritis. Men and younger women can also get it, but it’s much less common. Dr. Ladd says the next step is to develop implants that can be surgically placed in the thumb.
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Marsha Hitchcock at mhitchcock@ivanhoe.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Hand and Upper Extremity Clinic
450 Broadway St. Pavilion A, 2nd Fl. Dept A26
Redwood City, CA 94063
650-723-5256
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The Common Causes Of Arthritis
Arthritis is a group of ailments which involves joint damage and pain. You will find numerous causes of arthritis.
Determining the causes of arthritis can be challenging because lots of factors more often than not lead to a person acquiring this prevalent problem.
Here are the most common causes of arthritis:
- Age
As an individual age the cartilage gets to be more fragile and its capability to mend itself decreases. Arthritis has a tendency to develop as individuals get older.
- Genetics
So far, the contribution of genetics to the reason for arthritis isn’t well understood. However there are actually possible genetic variations that may result in the cause of arthritis.
- Injury
Joint damage can cause irregularities in the normal smooth joint surface. Among the causes of arthritis is previous major injury. A tibial plateau fracture is a good example of an injury resulting in arthritis in which the broken area of bone enters the cartilage of the knee joint. Just in case the joint or its surrounding tissue was ruined due to an injury, this can accelerate the process of wear and tear on the joint.
- Weight
The wear and tear in the joint would depend on the load the joint has to support, excess weight can result in arthritis. In the case of overweight patients, hips and knees could be worn easily.
- Infection
People who experience a joint infection for example septic joint, multiple episodes of gout, and other health conditions will probably acquire arthritis of the joint. There are some kinds of arthritis that are brought on by infections in other areas of the body. The onset of arthritis may also be brought on by both viral and bacterial infections.
- Occupational Hazards
There are lots of specific jobs, many of which are mainly popular jobs that may result in the onset of arthritis. Assembly line workers are prone to developing tendonitis in addition to other forms of arthritis in the fingers, hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders since the worker repeats exactly the same action again and again for longer time periods. Heavy construction workers are expected to perform constant heavy lifting which could give rise to arthritis in the ankles, knees, hips, spine, and neck.
- Sports
Just how much sports participation plays a role in the onset of arthritis is challenging to figure out. Undoubtedly, involvement in sports can bring about joint injury and subsequent arthritis. However, benefits of the activity perhaps outnumber whatever chance for arthritis.
- Food Allergies
There are specific foods that induce joint inflammation. People who notice that inflammation happens after taking these foods should prevent them whenever you can.
Arthritis can impact individuals in many ways. The intensity as well as for how long the patient is going to be affected rely on the type of arthritis he or she is struggling. Patients with arthritis will discover there are actually bad and good days. Soreness, pain, stiffness and exhaustion are gone through by most individuals with arthritis
Arthritis could be aggravating when you can no more grip things so well or get around as you used to. Always bear in mind that even when you are afflicted by arthritis this doesn’t imply you have to let go of your active lifestyle. Even though there may be some changes to your lifestyle yet there isn’t any reason why you can’t remain active.
New discovery could lead to novel medicines for rheumatoid arthritis
An enzyme that protects against inflammation and joint destruction has been identified by a team of researchers at the University of Gotenburg, Sweden.
Made when the researchers blocked production of the enzyme GGTase-I in transgenic mice, this unexpected discovery could lead to the identification of new mechanisms that control the development of inflammatory disorders, as well as new medicines.
GGTase-I is found in all cells but is particularly important for the function of so-called CAAX proteins in inflammatory cells. GGTase-I attaches a cholesterol-like fatty acid on the CAAX proteins.
“We therefore developed genetic strategies in transgenic mice to switch off the gene that codes for GGTase-I,” said student Omar Khan who is heading up the study along with professor Martin Bergö and co-worker docent/consultant Maria Bokarewa from the Institute of Medicine.
“This allowed us to investigate whether a complete blockade of GGTase-I can inhibit the development of inflammatory disorders and whether there are any side-effects.”
However, the results were quite the opposite of what the researchers were expecting. Instead of inhibiting inflammation, the deficiency of GGTase-I in macrophages (a common type of inflammatory cell) led to the mice developing chronic inflammation with cartilage and bone erosion in the joints, very similar to rheumatoid arthritis in humans.
“We had to reassess the role that GGTase-I plays in the function of CAAX proteins, and found that one group of CAAX proteins could not only function quite normally in macrophages that didn’t have any GGTase-I, but even increased in number and activity. This led to hyper-activation of the macrophages, which produced large quantities of inflammatory substances and, in turn, led to arthritis in the mice.”
GGTase-I acts on over 50 different CAAX proteins. The study shows that just one of these proteins – RAC1 – appears to be behind the disorder. This means that one function of GGTase-I is to suppress the activity of RAC1 and protect mice from developing arthritis. The results suggest that medicines that inhibit GGTase-I might actually induce arthritis instead of providing a cure. This will be important information for the ongoing clinical trials with GGTase-I inhibitors in cancer patients.
“The study has also resulted in an effective and simple genetic mouse model for arthritis that can be used to study the effect of new medicines and identify the mechanisms involved in the development of the disorder,” said Khan.
The study has been published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI). (ANI)
Article source: http://www.sify.com/news/new-discovery-could-lead-to-novel-medicines-for-rheumatoid-arthritis-news-international-lcioahbdfaf.html
Arthritis Symptoms and Some Great Home Treatment for Arthritis
Arthritis is a joint disorder featuring inflammation. A joint is an area of the body where two different bones meet.
A joint functions to move the body parts connected by its bones. Arthritis literally means inflammation of one or more joints.
Read more on How to Make Herbal Tea
Arthritis is the word used to describe inflammation of a joint. The most common cause of arthritis is due to wear and tear arthritis or osteoarthritis. Other cause of arthritis includes rheumatoid arthritis, gout, infections, and other conditions.
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of knee arthritis. It is also called wear-and-tear arthritis or degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis is characterized by progressive wearing away of the cartilage of the joint. Due to the protective cartilage being worn away by knee arthritis, bare bone is exposed within the joint.
Arthritis pain can be extremely painful especially in the winter months when the air is cold and humid. The cold seems to go right to the bones causing a deep ache. Suffering from arthritic pain everyday will get anyone looking for relief.
Information on home remedies, natural treatments, and other alternative therapies for arthritis. Natural treatments and alternative medicine can serve to complement more traditional arthritis therapies. Keep in mind some alternative approaches have questions regarding their efficacy and safety.
Personally I don’t like taking medications for my arthritis. I would rather use something natural to take away the pain. Luckily there are many different natural cures for arthritis.
Arthritis Symptoms
Osteoarthritis / Osteoarthritis (OA, also known as degenerative arthritis, degenerative joint disease, arthrosis or in more colloquial terms “wear and tear”), is a condition in which low-grade inflammation results in pain in the joints, caused by wearing of the cartilage that covers and acts as a cushion inside joints.
As the bone surfaces become less well protected by cartilage, the patient experiences pain upon weight bearing, including walking and standing.
Arthritis Treatment
1. Heal inflammation and kill the pathogens which cause it. Inflammation does not come from the blue sky – they are always certain bacterias or viruses involved, because immune system is not defending the body from them.
2. Improve immune system and restore its primary function
3. improve health of kidneys
4. balance hormones (especially thyroid, parathyroid, sexual hormones, hormones of adrenal glands)
5. regenerate blood
6. Slow down joint damage and gradually restore the health of the joints
Home Remedies for Arthritis
1. An effective way to get relief from the pain of arthritis is to massage the affected area with warm olive oil.
2. Mix olive oil with diluted garlic, juniper, lavender, sage, rosemary, thyme, or sassafras oil. The mix should be in the ratio of 1:10, where 10 represent the parts of olive oil. Massage this mixture over the affected area.
3. Steam baths and body massage have also proved worthwhile for people suffering from arthritis.
4. The person suffering from arthritis should consume food items rich in calcium, zinc and vitamin C.
5. An efficient home remedy for arthritis would be to have fresh potato juice in the morning. The juice should comprise of 50 percent potato juice and 50 percent water.
6. The simplest home remedy for arthritis would be to rub the affected area with warm vinegar, just before sleeping.
7. Mix 10 grams of camphor with 200 grams of mustard oil. Keep this mixture in a tightly corked bottle and expose it to sunlight, daily, until the camphor melts. Regularly massage the affected area with this mixture.
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There are a number of reasons why your pet could develop joint or muscle problems. Sprains and strains are fairly common in many active animals and certain animals may be more prone to this than others. Cats can put stress and strain on their joints,