I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, one of my favorite things about the therapies we offer at Whitaker Wellness is that they are effective today, they will be effective months from now, and they will still be effective in 100 years. Case in point: More than 20 years ago I wrote an article in Health & Healing on the dangers of arthritis medications and how reversing this painful condition was not only possible but probable using safe, natural therapies. This advice rings true to this day and I still stand by these effective treatments. Here’s the original article that was published in the June 1993 issue.
REVERSING ARTHRITIS
Folks, when it comes to arthritis treatment, the medications that are taken by millions in this country are frightfully dangerous. Even worse, instead of offering arthritis relief, they exacerbate the condition. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a completely safe, natural remedy that stimulates healing with new cartilage growth to cover the surfaces of the bone. It is called glucosamine sulfate, and it can reverse arthritis.
In general, all forms of arthritis—rheumatoid arthritis, gouty arthritis, or arthritis due to trauma—become osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis, the “end stage” arthritis, progresses with destruction of the cartilage that covers the articular surfaces of the bone, allowing bone to rub on bone. That is painful!
Almost all American physicians believe that osteoarthritis is progressive, and treatment is aimed only at pain relief. No attempt is made to slow down its progression.
Arthritis Drugs Actually Cause Cartilage Destruction!
The most common therapy for osteoarthritis are drugs such as aspirin, Motrin, Naprosyn, Feldene, Clinoril, Indocin, Vicodin, and Meclomen, to mention only a few. These nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have similar mechanisms of action and are big business for Big Pharma. Every few months there is a newly minted NSAID on the market, announced with expensive ads on its ability to relieve arthritis pain.
NSAIDs can be extremely dangerous. When used on a chronic basis—not occasionally for pain relief—they cause bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract in close to tens of thousands every year. Nonetheless, they are prescribed for virtually every painful condition, particularly arthritis pain.
Though these dangers are well known, what is not recognized is that NSAIDs block the body’s ability to produce cartilage and actually cause cartilage destruction. Thus, they accelerate the destructive nature of the disease.
Indocin (indomethacin) is a powerful and very dangerous NSAID. Physicians in Oslo, Norway, followed the course of 186 patients with X-rays of 294 hips. Fifty-eight of the patients were taking Indocin; 128 weren’t. Those taking Indocin were found to have far more rapid destruction of the hip than the group that was not taking Indocin or any other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent.
Folks, we docs have been asleep at the switch. It is time to go back to square one and rethink what we are offering our patients for arthritis relief.
Glucosamine: A Key to Reversing Arthritis
When osteoarthritis progresses, it causes a “loss of joint space,” and the cartilage covering the articular surfaces of bone shows up “lucent” on the X-ray, compared to the “opaque” whiteness of bone. However, if the mechanism of the body to make cartilage and other connective tissues is intact, osteoarthritis will sometimes stabilize and actually begin to reverse itself. This results in joint space recovery, which can happen even if the entire joint space has been lost.
In order to repair the ravages and lessen arthritis pain, the body must be able to produce connective tissue, the fibrous network that holds everything together and is the primary substance in cartilage. The first step for creating connective tissue is the conversion of glucose to glucosamine.
Glucosamine is to connective tissue what wheat is to bread. Actually it is more than that. Found in high concentrations in the joint space, glucosamine stimulates connective tissue production and the repair of the arthritic joint.
Numerous double-blind, placebo-controlled trials conducted in Europe have shown that glucosamine is not only better than a placebo but also superior to the commonly prescribed arthritis drugs. Better still, it’s a key player in reversing arthritis.
Safer Than Arthritis Drugs
Dr. Antonio Lopez Vaz from St. John Hospital in Oporto, Portugal, divided 48 patients, all with arthritis in only one knee, into two groups, one receiving 1.5 grams of glucosamine, the other receiving 1.2 grams of ibuprofen (Motrin) daily for eight weeks. The Motrin users had a rapid decrease in pain over the first two weeks, but at the end of eight weeks, their arthritis pain was on the rise again. The glucosamine users had less dramatic pain relief in the first two weeks, but at eight weeks they had significantly less pain than the Motrin group.
Osteoarthritis often requires long-term therapy. The effectiveness or potency of the long-term therapy should be weighed against its potential for toxicity. It makes little sense to me to dispense highly dangerous drugs when natural and nontoxic agents that increase the healing and repair of the joint surface are available. Glucosamine is only one of them. Patients with arthritis should also receive a wide spectrum of nutritional support, including a good multivitamin. Only modern docs think in terms of “the cure” by using a single agent, yet when the body sets out to heal itself, it needs and uses everything.
Recommendations for Reversing Arthritis
For my patients on NSAIDs, I eliminate these drugs over a one-to-two-week period and then introduce a treatment consisting of glucosamine sulfate and other targeted nutritional supplements. (See box below.) Glucosamine sulfate is widely available in health food stores and online. Use as directed.
If you are under a physician’s care for arthritis pain or joint degeneration, discuss starting this approach as a therapeutic trial. Also, share this information with your friends who want to reverse arthritis naturally.
If you can’t find these supplements in stores or online, they can be ordered by calling (800) 810-6655.
