8 Tips for Arthritis

from medical writer Margie Garrison:


Tip 1: Make Sure You Really Have Osteoarthritis

While to some of you, today's tip might be very basic. It is absolutely essential that
you make sure your diagnosis is correct before you begin wasting money on
treatments that are not designed to help your specific situation.

Tip 2: Searching For Just Arthritis Pain Relief? You Shouldn't!

Doctors are very quick to address your joint pain with what has become a "standard"
response. Normally, they tell you to take NSAIDS like Aspirin, Advil, Motrin, Ibuprofen,
and Acetaminophen, or prescribe COX-2 inhibitors such as Vioxx and Celebrex.

Tip 3: Keeping Your Weight in Balance is Key To Taking Control of Your Osteoarthritis!

If your osteoarthritis is affecting your load-bearing joints, keeping your weight within
normal ranges is important. Load-bearing joints of course refers to any portion of your
body that would be affected by excessive weight. Hips, knees, feet and spine are all
load-bearing joints.

Tip 4: The Arthritis Fighting Diet

The most common foods to avoid are:
# sugar
# caffeine
# citrus
# salt
# red meat
# dairy products
# additives
# soft drinks
# corn
# flour

Tip 5: Fighting Arthritis Through Proper Exercise!

As best you can, try to keep painful joint areas in motion, even in a limited manner. Exercise
is good for joints affected by osteoarthritis. Even if you don't think you can exercise, you can.
Even the lightest exercise can go along way to maintaining joint mobility and health. A good
exercise routine is key to beating arthritis.

Tip 6: The Treatments: NSAIDs, Cox-II Inhibitors, Surgery, & Glucosamine

The latest arthritis research has shown that there are some very effective alternatives that have
no side effects, are completely safe, ease the pain and tend to the disease. This supplement
is Glucosamine.

Recently, Glucosamine has been making a lot of headlines. Glucosamine is an over-the-counter
dietary supplement that has been shown to be effective in the treatment of osteoarthritis and
joint pain. Glucosamine stimulates the production of glycosaminoglycans (GAG's), the important
proteins found in cartilage plus proteoglycans, the water holding molecules that make up the
cartilage.

Tip 7: How to Evaluate a Glucosamine Product

Glucosamine compounds have opened up an entirely new avenue for all of you who suffer from
osteoarthritis. There is nothing new about the use of Glucosamine as a way of easing an arthritic
condition. For many years it has been used in Asia and Europe before the English speaking
medical community caught on. However, you have to be very, very careful when selecting
Glucosamine products.

Your selection should be based on four factors.

You must consider the quality of Glucosamine, method of delivery to body, additional ingredients
in the product, and of course, price.

Simply put, the higher quality of Glucosamine you use, the greater your relief will be. Many
companies use medium grade Glucosamine so you must be careful to look for the highest
quality. You need to look for pharmaceutical quality Glucosamine if you want the fastest and
fullest relief and healing.

Secondly, the method of delivery can make the difference between no pain relief and your
personally desired pain relief. Most products produced after the breakthrough news of the
1999 Lancet medical journal Glucosamine study, were rushed to the market. In this haste,
these companies did not take any time to do tests on their product. They simply assumed pill
form would be the most effective. The latest research however, has shown that Glucosamine
in liquid form is much more effective. In selecting a Glucosamine product, you should look for
one that is liquid form.

Also, crucial to the effectiveness of the product, is the other ingredients that are included in the
product. Glucosamine alone is not a cure all. There simply is no cure for arthritis. To receive
true help in an arthritic state, you need to look for products that combine a number of arthritis
fighting ingredients. You should look for a product that besides Glucosamine Sulfate and
Glucosamine HCL, it also contains arthritis-fighting ingredients such as chondroitin, boswellin,
bromelain, omega 3 & 6, yucca, manganese ascorbate, and vitamins A, C, and E.

When considering price, you must take care to determine exactly how much supply you are
purchasing. Many companies engage in what can only be called a "deceptive" practice. They
often will include 60 pills, or 32 oz. of the product, but they don't make it clear that you have to
take 6 pills or 4 oz. a day. You think you have purchased a month supply when often you will run
out in less than 2 weeks. A good price for a quality liquid Glucosamine product with many of the
above ingredients synergistically combined is around $30.

My recommendation for Glucosamine products is Syn-flex®, a 98% pure liquid formula that
combines all the ingredients that are essential for pain relief and joint healing.

Tip 8: 12 Ingredients that Will Ease Your Arthritis Pain

In alleviating arthritis pain, there are twelve key compounds that you should be taking for
maximum relief. These are Glucosamine, chondroitin, boswellin, bromelain, omega 3 & 6,
yucca, manganese ascorbate, and vitamins A, C, and E."