Arthritis in Dogs and Cats

Treatment for Arthritis in Companion Pets

Aging of the body occurs in all areas. Sometimes there is organ failure, sometimes there is mental failure and sometimes it is mobility failure. The most common mobility failure is arthritis in dogs and cats.

Mobility is defined as "the quality or state of being mobile". In our companion pets the joints are the most common areas to become limited. The joints can become damaged over time and lose their conformation. The lining of the joints should include cartilage to produce joint fluid and a smooth surface for movement, inter joint space free of infection or boney changes and good blood flow to provide nutrition to the joints. In big dogs and certain breeds of cats the aging of the hips is the anticipated site of damage. Once aging and degradation occur it is referred to osteoarthritis(OA).

There are factors that contribute to osteoarthritis, for example obesity, lack of good exercise, poor diet, environment and genetics. Genetics can't be readily controlled. Often when purchasing a large breed dog (labrador, shepherd, danes) owners will inquire if the dog has come from "good hips". There are certifications from OFA and PennHIP to identify the parent dog with excellent hips decrease the likelihood of problems in their offspring. Throughout the dogs lifetime regular exercise on soft surfaces is a healthy choice. Cats have osteoarthritis of the hips related to obesity, lack of exercise, poor diet, environment and genetics just like dogs. Siamese cats and the Maine Coon are highest on the list.

Radiographs (x-rays) are the most common way to diagnose OA. An exam can be very helpful but not pinpoint for a diagnosis. What if your pet has OA? Well, weight reduction can be an easy and inexpensive step. There are joint diets that have high levels of fatty acids to reduce inflammation, higher protein for weight loss--I am referring to J/d by Hill's. It works well. For dogs there are several nutriceutical products that have no side effects and are a great choice for early stages of OA. For example Dasaquin which is a combination glucoseamine/chondroitin sulfate/MSM/saponin product. This stimulates the cartilage cells to produce more joint fluid and reduce some scar tissue. If there is no cartilage left then it won't work on that particular joint but does help the other joints.

The next drug category is non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. (NSAIDS). There are DOG ( I emphasized that word) prescriptions medications to reduce pain and inflammation. They have more side effects so the liver and kidney function should be monitored. The more immediate side effects are vomiting/diarrhea.However, they work well and can be tolerated for long periods of time. The addition of other products for pain control can be multimodal. These prescription medications help more directly with pain and not inflammation.There are limitations in this group for the feline patients.

Last hope for dogs and cats that can barely walk is the cortisone. While it does have numerous negative side effects it can be the very last hope for many patients. If there are pre-existing problems such as heart disease, kidney disease or severe dental infection it may not be used.

Seeking veterinary help early is key to the problems of OA. And remember throughout your pets lifetime keep the weight off so you can keep OA pushed away.

Arthritis Knee Exercises - Knee Workouts to Prevent Arthritis, Joint Pain and Swelling

There are many types of arthritis knee exercises and knee workouts that can be done on a regular basis to prevent joint pain and swelling. All these exercises and knee movements are very helpful for the patients and doctors highly advise the patients to follow the regime on a regular basis to keep the situation under control. Knee exercises and knee workouts if done properly and on a regular basis can prove to be really beneficial for curing joint pain and swelling.

Here are some effective knee workout types to help you stay fit as well as fight with the disease:

· Walking - Walking is considered to be one of the easiest and effective arthritis knee exercises for fighting pain. Walking does not need much effort and there is no much strain on your knees and side by side is pain free also.

· Water Knee Workout - This workout has the same effect as of the one done on the road or land. Water knee exercises may include doing aerobics, jogging, walking or playing sports like polo etc in the water. Water supports your body weight and it becomes easy for you to move around without causing much pain.

· Swimming - Swimming is again considered to be a very effective joint pain exercise as it gives you a great cardiovascular knee workout. Water supports the body and while swimming, you do not feel much pain. Patients with serious pain can also go for swimming.

· Cycling - Though it can be a bit painful initially but cycling is one arthritis knee exercise that every doctor recommends. The body moves all together and loosens the stiff joints and relaxes your knees. Cycling is a very good knee workout for reducing pain and swelling as it is a muscular exercise.

The Truth About Rheumatoid Arthritis Cures

Has a cure for rheumatoid arthritis finally been found? A quick look around the internet finds scores of over-the-counter medications guaranteed to bring relief! Keep looking and you'll find more prescription medicines, new medical procedures, announcements of new surgical procedures and natural herb supplements than you can imagine.

All claim to effectively treat RA. Some use the term "miraculous." Among them are a $50,000-per-innoculation under development by scientists at England's Newcastle University. A custom vaccine will be individually engineered for each patient.

Such a rheumatoid arthritis cure will have to halt what RA does - turning the sufferer's immune system against his or her own body, attacking the patient's joints. If the vaccine is approved, technicians will harvest white blood cells from each patient. Cells will be "reprogrammed" by therapy that includes a patented cocktail of Vitamin D, steroids and other compounds. The altered cells will be injected into one of the patient's arthritis-inflamed joints - with the expectation that the altered white blood cells will suppress the immune system's attacks on the sufferer's own body.

If it works, a historic rheumatoid arthritis cure will come in a single dose. The target date for use on humans is 2013.

But will such a rheumatoid arthritis treatment work? Or will it destroy patients' immune systems, making them susceptible to infection? If it does work, will its effectiveness wear off, requiring additional $50,000 treatments?

And who will this shot help? Only those who haven't developed full-blown RA yet? Or just those with mild cases? Will the effect only be localized - requiring expensive vaccinations to every affected joint? Will it work for patients with advanced cases? Will there be side effects?

While the prospect is exciting, RA sufferers have heard it all before. There are so many rheumatoid arthritis cures and treatments out there that it's easy to get cynical. Physicians state bluntly that there's no cure. But they may also suggest ideas that have worked for others.

One is to put up a high fence and sunbathe au natural in your own back yard. Preposterous? No, rheumatoid arthritis responds well to sunshine! When sunlight falls on your bare skin, your body creates its own vitamin D, which works far better than any health food supplement or daily multivitamin.

Fifteen minutes in the sun three times weekly gives most patients a potent dose of vitamin D. Will more sunshine help? The best advice is to take it slowly - five minutes at a time for the first week, extending to 20 minutes until you have a nice "base tan." Then you may find yourself sunbathing for an hour or more at a time. Some rheumatoid arthritis patients say the treatment is addictive! Plus, it's free!

Other rheumatoid arthritis treatments include regular doses of omega-3 fatty acid, gamma-linolenic acid and Boswellia. Similar success is reported with glucosamine chondroitin, ginger, magnesium, copper supplements, beta-carotene rich foods, vegetarian diets, curcumin, green tea extract, guggul, lyprinol, folic acid as well as large doses of vitamin B6, C, and E.

Some sufferers say their condition eased when they quit smoking, cut back on coffee... and drank small "doses" of alcohol! The bottom line? Until scientists announce a miracle cure, the rheumatoid arthritis sufferer needs to keep reading, keep experimenting to find what works - and avoid feelings of being overwhelmed. There is hope!

New Hope For Osteoarthritis Sufferers

Hopeful news for a promising new osteoarthritis treatment was revealed in a routine interview of Yvonne Lungershausen, the Senior Director of Clinical Services for CPR Pharma Services. CPR Pharma is a 25 year established Clinical Research Organization that recently performed a phase II clinical trial of a new drug called Ampion to treat 100 patients suffering severe pain from osteoarthritis of the knee. Their pain was so extreme most of them were considering knee replacement surgery. Some had even scheduled the surgery but enrolled in this trial as a last chance for a long shot fix.

Patients were treated with only one injection of Ampion, a naturally occurring substance produced by the human body that is known to control inflammation. Most drugs can cause adverse side effects but Ampion is completely safe and has a 50-year history of safety being administered to millions of patients as Human Serum Albumin (HSA).

In only a few hours after the injection, the results were not what anybody was expecting. They were shocking.

In the interview by Trader Investor Alert, the first thing Lungershausen said was, "In terms of safety issues, there were none". "There were no adverse events and I would say that Ampion had an exceptional safety profile". When asked if there were any surprises she replied, "Yes, CPR has been performing clinical trials for over 20 years." "Some of them failed miserably... some were slightly positive... but Ampion has been amazingly positive." "Patients came in hobbling, limping and depressed but after they received an injection of Ampion, they were literally skipping with joy." "One man completely disabled from his knee pain was finally able to put on his shoes and walk his dog; something he loved to do but was unable to do for the past five years.

Another miracle story recently published on YouTube by an Australian television station is about Norm Johnson who found it very difficult just to walk on flat ground and almost impossible to go up and down stairs. Norm was in so much pain that he was ready to schedule knee replacement surgery; until he joined the Ampion clinical trial. Within one hour after receiving the injection, his pain was completely gone and he was able to walk pain free. Six months later he remains pain free and can be seen climbing up and down a steep ladder. After receiving the Ampion treatment Mr. Johnson cancelled his plans for knee replacement surgery. Watch this short video of Mr. Johnson's amazing recovery. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H7Nbr1CIo4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Lungershausen went on, "Patients were followed up in 30 days and then again at day 84 with pain questions and CT scans and the data just kept getting better and better". The benefits of one injection are lasting far longer than anybody ever expected. "Patients describe Ampion as a miracle drug and want to be involved in future trials."

Dr. David Bar-Or is the inventor of Ampion and also the Director of Research at two of Colorado's three Level I Trauma Centers. During his 30-year tenure in Trauma Centers, he observed that brain swelling from severe head injuries stopped very quickly compared to most swelling and deduced that there must be some natural body mechanism that shuts down the immune response of inflammation. After examining the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of severe head trauma patients, he was able to isolate two naturally occurring amino acids and reproduce them as Ampion. Dr. Bar-Or has developed several other promising drugs for diabetes and sexual dysfunction and is now working on his most exciting discovery; a promising drug for cancer that has demonstrated remarkable results.

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, the developer of Ampion has been granted successful guidance from the FDA to begin a phase III trial with 1,500 patients. Patient enrollment for the trial is 50% completed and results are expected by the end of this year. The company is on fast track with the FDA and expects to have Ampion approved and available to patients next year.

Osteoarthritis affects more than 27 million Americans and there are over 630,000 joint replacements each year in the U.S. alone and the number is growing rapidly. Approximately 1 in 2 people are expected to develop symptomatic knee Osteoarthritis in their lifetime.

Living With Arthritis Pains and Its Complications

What is arthritis?

Arthritis is a chronic disease that comes with pain and loss of movement of the joints. It is a joint disorder caused by disease, infection, anomalies and other factors that affect the everyday activities. Arthritis affects the people of all ages, including children and young adults but generally people over 50years show more signs of arthritis because the joint naturally degrades overtime. Arthritis is not a single disease, but a term that covers over 100diseases and medical conditions that can affect many parts of the body. It is a long term disease that cannot be totally cured but can be managed with proper medical care, adequate therapy and by treating its symptoms.

However, it should be noted that arthritis is associated with diseases of other tissues and organs in the body and as a result it is considered as one of the major causes of disability in people who are over 50years and above. In the United States, arthritis is the leading cause of disability and researchers claimed that nearly 1 in every 5 adults has some form of arthritis.

We have various types of arthritis and for this article l would like to write on the most common types of arthritis and these are Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoarthritis Arthritis - is a disease that can cause the breakdown of joint tissue which leads to joint pain and stiffness. It is normal inflammatory and at onset is subtle and gradually starting from one or few joints. It is also known as degenerative joint disease, resulting from wear and tear of cartilage usually associated with old age. The pressure of gravity causes damage to the joints and surrounding tissues leading to pain, tenderness and sometimes swelling at different parts of the body.

Rheumatoid arthritis - is a chronic disease potentially disabling type of arthritis that occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the synovium (cell lining the joint). It usually causes severe joint pain, loss of joint function, stiffness, swelling and sometimes leads to permanent deformity. Rheumatoid arthritis can be difficult to diagnose early because the symptoms can be deceptive. As a result no single test can conclusively establish its correct diagnosis. It is responsible for arthritis pain and inflammation joints that affects most joints of the body like fingers, wrists, kneels and toes.

Treatment of Arthritis

Over the years proper treatment have help to relieve arthritis symptoms and correct many serious joint problems. Sometimes physical and occupational therapy is used to control and maintain joint mobility and range of motion. The proper kind and amount of this therapy depends on the underlying cause and individual factors.

Arthritis cure largely depends on the type, the severity of the problem and previous response to treatment by the patients. As a result, medical supervision is a must because arthritis like rheumatoid can be crippling and can affect other organs in the body. Doses of aspirin or aspirin-like drugs are common prescription that effectively reduced arthritis pain and inflammation. In case of severe pains, drugs like DMARDS or SAARDS (disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or slow-acting antirheumatic drugs) such as anti-malaria are administered.

Once again l would like to emphasize that all these drugs prescribed require close supervision and that most of them have hazardous effects, for example in some patients aspirin interferes with platelet function and this can cause serious bleeding.

Finally, in treating arthritis the major concern of the doctor is to provide the best treatment that will reduce the pains, or further damage to the joints and prevent any permanent deformity.

Hemp Seed Oil Can Help Treating Arthritis

Many people would dismiss arthritis as a simple and natural process of aging when in fact it is not. It is a crippling disease; slow yet decapitating. Arthritis has many forms and accompanying painful symptoms. Somehow, in the advent of modern-day technology and medical breakthroughs, we look for an organic alternative way of battling arthritis knowing that it is safer and economical yet effective.

Arthritis simply means inflammation of the joints. We have a variety of joints in our body and this condition pertains to the swelling and pain that occurs in the affected area of someone inflicted with it.

What happens to the affected area is coined as "cartilage and bone gravel." Due to the overstretching of muscles which cause damage to the joints, what is left of the bones as well as the cartilage, would forcefully rub against each other which causes throbbing pain as well as worsening the damage of the affected joints. This continues to happen over and over again; it becomes a painful cycle and it gets worse over time.

Although it seems to be a dead end, there are lots of alternative natural treatment options available and there is one that will suit your criteria perfectly.

In this context, we would like to recommend hemp seed oil capsule, which is said to be "nature's most perfectly balanced oil" and "the most nutritionally complete food source there is in the world". Its liquid formulation can be taken with a spoon and really tastes good. This is recommended for long-term use. It has advantage over its other counterparts because it has a perfectly balanced fatty acid profile.

Moreover, this also contains essential fatty acids (EFA's) and gamma linoleic acid (GLA), both of which are very vital to achieve overall optimum health.

GLA (Gamma-Linolenic Acid) studies have also proven that hemp oil lowers the risk of heart attack and strengthens the immune defenses. The essential fatty acids helps lower blood cholesterol, promote good blood flow, and helps improve overall organ function.

Cannabis sativa is referred as the most important of all crops as it has provided us with useful edible seeds, oil, and medicine. Imbalances in specific fatty acids seem to be correlated to common diseases such as arthritis, eczema, acne, and a lot more. This further promotes the use of hemp oil as it is rich in essential amino acids and essential fatty acids. It is also rich in protein.

It can also be used in cooking delectable and healthy dishes. It has a distinct nutty taste to it which makes it ideal to incorporate in your side dishes with veggies, which make this a must-have for vegetarians. It could also be taken as part of a sumptuous dips and salad dressings. Better yet, it can be taken in its natural form as a dietary supplement.

How To Deal With Arthritis And Its Symptoms

There are more than 100 kinds of arthritis and related conditions. The word arthritis comes from "art her" (joint) and "it is" (inflammation). It is used to describe a wide range of diseases of the joints and related tissues that cause pain, stiffness and sometimes joint deformities and loss of function. Some kinds of arthritis also attack the skin and internal organs. You may have heard arthritis mentioned to as rheumatism or rheumatic disease: the terms are used interchangeably and arthritis specialists are called rheumatologists. The risk of getting many kinds of arthritis increases as we age.

Today, joint diseases account for half of all debilitating conditions in people aged 60 and older. Because medicine and diet are helping us live longer, more people than ever will develop osteoarthritis in the future. Other forms of arthritis also attack children and people in the prime of life. Some of these rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus are very serious. Arthritis can be a complex condition to diagnose and treat. Many people, especially as they age, develop osteoarthritis, in addition, to other kinds of arthritis, or are also being treated for other debilitating diseases, such as heart disease or type two diabetes. Moreover, because no two individuals have exactly the same symptoms, your doctor will most likely prescribe a combination of treatments adjusted specifically for you.

A team approach is recommended for treating; the severe types of arthritis.When treating chronic ailments, doctors today are increasingly open to the idea of including some complementary therapies. The cause of most kinds of arthritic condition is not known, nor is there a cure for the majority of them. Many symptoms do respond to treatment. By working closely with your healthcare team and using a combination of conventional medications, complementary therapies and exercise, you can minimize the effects of this age-old disease and remain active.

Some kinds of arthritis need early and aggressive treatment to prevent or lessen irreversible bone damage. Infectious arthritis, for example, can be cured when treated with antibiotics-if you think you probably have an infection, call your doctor at once. Joint damage from rheumatoid arthritis can be reduced or prevented with powerful drugs. If you notice any of the following symptoms see your doctor. Consent or recurring pain or tenderness in a joint that lasts for more than two weeks. Swelling in one or more joints, especially with warmth and redness. Hardness around the joints that last a minimum for an hour in the early morning. Sudden difficulty using or moving a joint normally.