Rheumatoid Medication
RA or rheumatoid arthritis is a serious medical condition that can affect any part of the body, not just the joints. People with RA can have stomach, heart, lung and skin problems as well as involvement of the blood vessels which can be life-threatening. This disease requires aggressive treatment to arrest its progress.Most people will be treated with the tools of conventional medicine and will receive drugs classed as steroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), and biologic response modifiers, sometimes called the slow drugs.
Some RA patients, however, will decide to try alternative medicine instead to treat their disease or will use natural medicines and therapies as complementary therapy to the usual armentarium of drugs. This decision needs to be a careful one and needs close monitoring because if RA is not arrested, it will do permanent and potentially crippling damage to the body. All RA patients require such monitoring and testing whatever type of treatment they choose. Relief of obvious symptoms alone does not guarantee a remission.
An alternative therapy that may be used along with conventional medicine is acupuncture or acupressure. This ancient Asian method of controlling pain and illness relies on certain points on the body that are believed to be focal points for meridians carry qi. This is not unlike the flow of current in the nervous system known to modern medicine. Conventional medicine also acknowledges the presence of “trigger points” that can be used to diagnose and treat pain from many causes. No studies have shown acupuncture to arrest the progress of RA but it may be very useful in treating pain and stiffness.
Ayurvedic medicine is also sometimes used to treat RA, and some clinical trials have shown some of the herbs used to be effective as anti-inflammatory treatments. These herbs do not seem to have the unwanted side effects on the digestive system often seen with prescription and over the counter NSAIDs.
Ginger is an ayurvedic drug used for generations for pain and inflammation. It is believed to be a prostaglandin inhibitor much the same as aspirin in its action. It also helps nausea which can be a side effect of some other RA drugs such as methotrexate.
Turmeric is also used to treat arthritis in ayurvedic therapy. It may stimulate the body to produce cortisol which decreases inflammation and works much the same as capsaicin, found in cayenne pepper. This herb works by depleting a neurotransmitter called substance P that causes the sensation of pain. Both can be used topically or internally.
Another herb used is frankincense gum, or Boswellia. It appears to reduce the formation of leukotrienes, a substance that causes inflammation. This and the other drugs are often combined with another herb from India called Ashwagandha. Long used for “rheumatism”, Ashwagandha is also used to treat blood pressure and sexual problems.
Some people like to use homeopathy to treat RA. This theory uses time amounts of “like” drugs to reverse disease. For example, to soothe inflammation, you use a tiny or homeopathic dose of an irritant. Like the other alternative medications, homeopathic products seem to relieve symptoms for many but do not change the disease course. They have the advantage of being quite nontoxic.
Dietary supplements have also been tried to treat RA, primarily oils rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which are antioxidants and are hoped to soothe inflammation. The most common oils used are fish oils from fatty fishes such as mackerel, oil from the evening primrose, and flaxseed oil. Some use flaxseeds rather than the more expensive oil and they can easily be added to baked goods.
Resources
Information about conventional RA medication
Choosing RA medications from the About.com informative arthritis pages: treatments
Alternative medication for RA discussed
Excellent discussion of Ayurvedic therapies
Alternative RA medication