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Rheumatoid
Research
Alternative
& Complementary Therapies
Hydrotherapy
& Rheumatoid Arthritis
A recent study found that hydrotherapy is particularly
beneficial for arthritis sufferers. One hundred thirty-nine patients with chronic
rheumatoid arthritis were randomly assigned to receive hydrotherapy, seated immersion,
land exercise, or progressive relaxation.
Patients attended 30-minute sessions twice weekly for 4
weeks. Physical and psychological measures were completed before and after intervention,
and again at a 3-month follow-up.
The results showed that all patients improved physically
and emotionally, as assessed by the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales 2 questionnaire.
The patients' belief that their pain was controlled by chance happenings decreased,
signifying not just improvement in their condition but also in their belief to be able to
manage their symptoms.
However the data revealed conclusively that the
hydrotherapy patients showed significantly greater improvement in joint tenderness and in
knee range of movement (women only) than the other patients. And at the follow-up
measurement, the hydrotherapy patients maintained the improvement in emotional and
psychological state.
The report concluded that although all patients experienced
some benefit, "hydrotherapy produced the greatest improvements", and the
researchers stated that there is clear evidence of the benefits of hydrotherapy for
arthritis sufferers to support the continued use of this therapy as an effective adjunct
treatment.
Hall J; Skevington SM; Maddison
PJ; Chapman K A randomized
and controlled trial of hydrotherapy in rheumatoid arthritis.Arthritis Care Res (UNITED
STATES) Jun 1996, 9 (3) p206-15
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Homoeopathy
& Rheumatoid Arthritis
Researchers at the Glasgow homoeopathic Hospital U.K.
demonstrated in a small-scale con-trolled study that homœopathy may be particularly
beneficial for patients who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.
Twenty-three patients with rheumatoid arthritis were given conventional treatment using
anti-inflammatory medications together with a homoeopathy preparation (which was
individually prescribed by an attending homoeopathic physician). They were then compared
with a similar group of twenty-three patients who received the same conventional
anti-inflammatory medications but with an inert placebo homoeopathic preparation.
The results revealed that the patients receiving homoeopathic remedies in addition to
conventional treatment showed a significant improvement in subjective pain, movement
(articular index), stiffness and grip strength, whereas there was no significant change in
the patients who received the anti-inflammatories with placebo.
Two physicians were involved in pre-scribing for the patients and there were no
significant differences in the results, which they obtained. As one would expect, no side
effects were observed with the homeopathic remedies.
Gibson R.G.; Gibson S.L.M.; MacNeil! AD.; Buchanan W.W. Homoeopathic therapy in
rheumatoid arthritis: Evaluation by double-blind clinical therapeutic trial. British
Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 1980, 9/5 (453-459)
Another study suggested that homeopathic
preparation Rheumaselect could help rheumatoid arthritis has been vindicated
by the original research team.
The researchers from the University of Ulm in Germany stand by their
original findings even though their research had been criticised after a
number of participants had dropped out. Another criticism was that the
statistical evaluation was not based on strict scientific protocols for
research studies.
However, the two researchers reanalysed their data according to the
protocols, and still found the findings, which had been based on a
randomised. double-blind research criteria - confirmed that the remedy was
still shown to be extremely effective fur treating rheumatoid arthritis.
Gaus W, Wiesenauer M, Aktuel Rheumatol, 1993; 18: 159-62
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Physical
therapies
&
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Czechoslovakian researchers have
investigated the therapeutic effects of three different physical therapies
(whirlpool bath, low/high air pressure massage with a vasotrain device and
mud paste bags from the GDR) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
The patients’ pain and restricted movement of their feet were monitored
before and after treatment, and a statistical evaluation of the analgesic
effect of the different physiotherapeutic remedies was done with the t-test
for independent samples. For all therapeutic remedies
checked, a statistically significant reduction of pain was observed, but
the patients noted significantly better improvement of mobility after
whirlpool bath and mud paste treatment.
Svarcova J.; Hofia T.; Kouba A.; Trnavsky K.; Zvarova J. IS DURCH
UNTERSCHIEDLICHE
PHYSIOTHERAPIEMITTEL. KONTROLLIERTE KLINISCHE STUDIE. Wiss.
orschungsinstitut fur Rheumatologie, Na Slupi c. 4, 128 50 Praha
Czecho-slovakia Z. PHYSIOTHER. (Germany, Democratic Republic), 1990, 42/2
(109-112)
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Acupuncture
& Rheumatoid Arthritis
*Acupuncture has traditionally been successfully employed in China to
treat most illnesses. There is little doubt that acupuncture is an
excellent therapy for people suffering with this condition as it works
through the nervous system and energy channels in the body. Treatment has
been shown to cause the brain to release endorphines and encephalins
(natural pain killers), boost the immune system and calm the nervous
system.
There are several studies suggesting that
acupuncture can be very helpful in the treatment of arthritis. For
instance, a recent study in Russia (1) found that 73% of patients
suffering from Ankylosing Spondylitis benefitted from acupuncture
treatment. When acupuncture was combined with UV light treatment the
response rate increased to 93%.
In another study, 54 Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferers
were given acupuncture (warm needling) with Zhuifengsu (chinese herb) The
effective rate was found to be 100%. (2)
A study of auriculo-electropuncture
(AEP) -
treatment of points on the ear - by a double blind method was conducted in
Russia with 16 arthrits patients. Not only did they all feel better as a
result of the treatment but they all showed "statistically
significant" improvement in blood samples. (3)
Traditional acupuncturists treat the whole person
rather than a disease and therefore attempt to get to the root cause of
the problem rather than treating the symptoms and, like other holistic
practitioners, will consider all lifestyle and environmental factors
before commencing treatment. Controlled medical tudies indicate that
acupuncture is an appropriate therapy to adopt in holistic treatment of
Arthritis.
(1) [The combined use of acupuncture and UV
irradiation in treating the neurological manifestations of lumbar
osteochondrosis] Sochetannoe primenenie akupunktury i oblucheniia
UF-luchami v lechenii nevrologicheskikh proiavlenii poiasnichnogo
osteokhondroza. Tsarev IuK; Troshina ED Vopr Kurortol Fizioter Lech Fiz
Kult (USSR) May-Jun 1991, (3) p25-9,
(2) Effect of acupuncture and point-injection treatment on immunologic
function in rheumatoid arthritis. Liu X; Sun L; Xiao J; Yin S; Liu C; Li
Q; Li H; Jin B General Hospital of PLA, Beijing. J Tradit Chin Med (CHINA)
Sep 1993, 13 (3) p174-8
(3) [Auriculo-electropuncture in rheumatoid arthritis (a double-blind
study)] Aurikuloelektropunktura pri revmatoidnom artrite (dvoinoe slepoe
ispytanie). Ruchkin IN; Burdeinyi AP Ter Arkh 1987, 59 (12) p26-30
*OBJECTIVE:
Acupuncture is commonly used by patients with chronic painful
musculoskeletal disorders. There are, however, few well-designed studies
of its efficacy. This paper describes a randomized placebo-controlled
cross-over design to evaluate acupuncture as a useful treatment adjunct in
the management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
METHODS: Sixty-four patients were centrally randomized from a
hospital-based rheumatology out-patient clinic. Fifty-six patients were
suitable for study, all were on second-line therapy and aged 18-75 yr.
There had been no change in therapy for the preceding 3 months. Patients
who had previous acupuncture, anticoagulation, fear of needles or
infection were excluded. Single-point (Liver 3) acupuncture or placebo was
given with an intervening 6 week wash-out period. The acupuncturist,
patient and statistician were blinded as far as possible. The outcome
measures included the inflammatory markers (erythrocyte sedimentation rate
and C-reactive protein), visual analogue scale of pain, global patient
assessment, 28 swollen and tender joint count, and a general health
questionnaire.
RESULTS: The results demonstrated no significant effect of treatment or
period and no significant interaction between treatment and period for any
outcome variable. No adverse effects were reported.
CONCLUSION: Acupuncture of this type cannot be considered as a useful
adjunct to therapy in patients with RA. Possible reasons why this is the
case are discussed.
David J, Townsend S, Sathanathan R, Kriss
S, Dore CJ Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Trust, Reading, UK.
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Vegetarianism &
Rheumatoid
arthritis
Studies have shown that vegetarian diets can be successfully used to
treat the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatic diseases.
Kjeldsen-Kragh (1991) found that rheumatoid arthritis patients following a
vegetarian diet suffered considerably fewer swollen and tender joints and
less stiffness or pain.
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This page was last updated on 05 December 2006 16:52:10
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