Arthritis: Doctor gives advice on best foods to help ease pain
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Arthritis is an umbrella term for more than 100 conditions that affect the joints, which results in pain and swelling. In the UK, more than 10 million people have arthritis or other, similar conditions that affect the joints. Living with arthritis isn’t easy but if you take steps to minimise its impact, it shouldn’t compromise your overall health.
However, if your arthritis fits a certain profile, it may mean your life expectancy may be impacted.
“Young age at onset, long disease duration, the presence of other health problems, and characteristics of severe RA (such as poor quality of life, a lot of joint damage on x-rays, involvement of organs other than the joints, more active disease early on and being positive for both types of rheumatoid arthritis-associated antibody (rheumatoid factor and anti-CCP)) can have an impact on lifespan,” explains National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS).
However, as the NRAS notes, patients who see a rheumatologist early in the course of their disease have a better outcome.
A rheumatologist is an internist or paediatrician who received further training in the diagnosis (detection) and treatment of diseases that affect the muscles, bones, joints, ligaments, and tendons.
According to NRAS, many of the serious factors may be linked, and more research is needed to tease out the most important of them.
Using this information, health professionals should eventually be able to identify early on which individual patients are at high risk of early death and intervene appropriately, if possible, to control the relevant risk factors.
Encouragingly, a recent Dutch study compared death rates from 1997 to 2012 and found over these 15 years declining death rates on an annual basis, though compared to age and sex-matched individuals, it remained higher.
Fortunately, most people living with arthritis can live a long and fulfilling life if they take steps to keep the condition under control.
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However, there are many things you can do to manage your arthritis.
It’s very important to eat a healthy, balanced diet if you have arthritis.
“Eating healthily will give you all the nutrients you need and help you maintain a healthy weight,” explains the NHS.
Maintaining a healthy weight eases the pressure on your joints, thereby staving off the risk of further complications.
If your arthritis is painful, you may not feel like exercising, but getting active can alleviate arthritis.
According to the NHS, physical activity can help reduce and prevent pain.
Regular exercise can also:
- Improve your range of movement and joint mobility
- Increase muscle strength
- Reduce stiffness
- Boost your energy.
“As long as you do the right type and level of exercise for your condition, your arthritis won’t get any worse,” notes the NHS.
Certain exercises have been shown to confer particular benefits for people living with arthritis.
Stretching exercises, which are sometimes known as range-of-movement or flexibility exercises, can aid arthritis.
“These involve bending and straightening your joints as much as is comfortable to keep them flexible and reduce the risk of any loss of mobility,” explains Versus Arthritis.
“When doing stretching exercises, you should try to move your joints as far as you comfortably can, until you feel a stretch in the muscles around the joint.”
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