By Rosha Roush

     Over 50 million Americans suffer from arthritis. It is estimated that the majority of the United States population over 50 will experience some signs. It is considered the number 1 crippler. Arthritis is defined as inflammation and soreness of the joints, usually accompanied by pain and, frequently, changes in structure. The two main types are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common degenerative joint disease. It develops as a result of the constant wearing away of cartilage in a joint. This involves tendons, ligaments and muscles. Symptoms are body stiffness and pain in the joints, usually during damp weather, in the morning, or after heavy exercise. Injury and an inherited defect in the protein that forms cartilage also play roles in its development. OA primarily affects the synovial pads that line the bones within the joint. Over time, stress breaks down collagen, a protein found in the pads. With age, the ability to produce new collagen decreases. As the pads wear away, the bones rub together, causing pain and inflammation. It can also occur if there is traumatic stress on a joint, a fracture or surgery.

For Arthritis see Arthritis Medicinal Formula, Single Herbs See Hawthorne Berries, Arthritis Tea, Batherapy Line I have a Arthritis Sip N'' Soak and Arthritis massage oil.

     Rheumatoid arthritis affects the whole body, instead of a joint. Emotional stress usually brings on the onset of the disease. It destroys the cartilage and tissues in and around the joints and sometimes on the bone surface. It is a chronic, inflammatory disorder causing stiffness, deformity, and pain in the joints and muscles and can affect the lungs, blood vessels, the spleen, skin and muscles. Early signs are fatigue, muscular aches and pains, stiffness in the joints and swelling. You may experience weight loss and fever. It most frequently strikes women between the ages of twenty and forty. The current theory of the origins of RA is that the disease starts with an infection by any one or more of a variety of infectious microorganisms. Then the body produces large numbers of immune-system cells called T cells to fight the infection. The T cells attack cells in the membrane as if they were germs, and the membrane swells until it no longer fits in the joint. As the disease progresses, it desolves a protein called collagen in cartilage and eventually attacks the bone itself. RA is, in effect, a disease in which the body can turn on the immune system but cannot turn it off. Physical or emotional stress, as well as poor nutrition, may be involved in the onset of the disease. Tobacco is from the nightshade family along with tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and green peppers. They interfere with collagen repair.

See Arthritis, Rheumatism, and Bursitis Formula, Single Herbs that help are: Astragalus, Billberry, Comfrey and Feverfew. Also See Arthritis in the batherapy line.

     This also includes bursitis and gout. Symptoms are pain and inflammation in the joints. This could appear in the neck, back, shoulders knees, wrist, elbows, fingers, toes, and hips. Gout is caused by an excessive concentration of uric acid in body fluids. Uric acid crystallizes in the joints, tendons, kidneys, and other tissues. Gout mostly affects men between the ages of forty and fifty. Bursitis is an inflammation of a bursa. This is a small fluid-filled sac located between tendons and bones. Flexing a joint with the same motion so many times causes the bursae to break down causing pain, tenderness and limited range of motion. Bursitis also can result from chronic inflammation caused by systemic diseases. Autoimmune diseases - such as RA, ankylosing spondylitis, and lupus - increase the risk of bursitis, as does gout. The immune system''s overreaction to allergens of infections can also aggravate the disease.

For Gout see Goutease Formula, Single Herbs that help are Billberry, Burdock, Devils Claw and Sarsaparilla. For Bursitis See Arthritis, Rheumatism, Bursitis formula, Single herbs See Ginger, Horsetail (Shavegrass)

Conventional treatment uses various drugs to reduce pain, inflammation and uric acid production. Fortunately, they can be treated very successfully with diet and lifestyle changes supported by herbal therapy.