Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Beneficial Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Osteoarthritis

By Andrew John

The exact form of osteoarthritis may vary from mild to serious, but its prevalence (12% of population suffers from this disease) makes it extremely important for the public health. The stiffness of the body and pain in the joints are two main results of osteoarthritis. While they often can mild enough to be treated as a natural state of aged organism rather than a disease, sometimes they may cause serious problems, effectively paralyzing people.

As many other chronic diseases, osteoarthritis can't be really cured. Despite hundreds of research concerning anti-arthritis medications, all we can do now is to slow down the disease or decrease the chance of its appearance.

Staying fit and in good shape is the first thing everyone suffering from osteoarthritis should do. There are three main reasons for that. First, you have to keep your joints from doing more than they can - and being overweight puts an enormous stress on the joints and speed up the cartilage loss. Then, joints work less hard if they are supported by strong muscles. Finally, a good diet will keep your body much less prone to osteoarthritis attacks.

The most common method of relieving pain is to use extremely high or low temperatures on the body. Hot baths are common methods of ensuring that the blood circulation will speed up, easing the pain, while cold water or ice applied on the sore joints will actually reduce the pain.

Heat and cold however, are not always enough to eliminate the pain. If necessary, it is ok to opt for prescription-free drugs. However, if you decide to ask your doctor for something stronger, remember to learn about the side effects and be very wary when you use them. The last thing you need is endangering your health because of too strong painkillers.

Omega-3 fatty acids are a necessary add-on to the diet of everyone suffering from osteoarthritis. Their anti-inflammatory effects are very well-known, and they are one of the few things that can reverse the course of arthritis (though even they can't heal us completely). As they appear mostly in seafood, it is quite difficult to get enough of Omega-3 fatty acids without eating tons of fish. That;s why many doctors encourage their patients to take Omega-3 food supplements such as Omega Daily.

To sum everything up: stay in shape, eat a lot of Omega-3 fatty acids and keep thew pain in check with as few medications as possible. This will reduce the risk of the joint's overstress and increases the ability to withstand inevitable cartilage loss. - 16650

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