You’ve probably heard the “autoimmune” term before but; what does it mean?

Try this…

When bugs like: viruses, bacteria or parasites enter your body, your body’s army, your immune system, goes crazy. You see; your immune system is designed to attack enemies and protect you…your own personal version of “homeland security”.

Here’s the problem.

What if your body’s army mistakenly attacks its allies, your body’s cells, instead of the enemy. We’d call this “friendly fire”. Unfortunately, this is not very friendly to your health. It’s called an autoimmune disease.

Diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis takes more than one test. If your doctor thinks you may have rheumatoid arthritis, he or she will use many tools, like a medical history, a physical exam, lab tests, and X-rays.

Taking a medical history from you is usually your doctor’s best way of diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis. The more your doctor learns about you, the better he or she will be able to determine if you have rheumatoid arthritis.

Your doctor will probably ask you questions like, “Do you have joint pain in many joints?”, “Do you have stiffness in the morning?”, “When is the pain most severe?”, and “Do you have pain in your hands, wrists and/or feet?”

We have been using the Chinese therapy, acupuncture, for thousands of years to treat all sorts of ailments. Now, acupuncture has become one of the most popular alternative medicine treatments available. Today many doctors, who are open to alternative medicine, think acupuncture is a great way to help alleviate your pain from rheumatoid arthritis.

Like many traditional and alternative medicines, it’s important to remember each person responds to acupuncture differently.

So, while some of you may experience great results using acupuncture, others of you may not see any results. Again, like many traditional and alternative medicines, it is also important for you to remember acupuncture can only help treat your rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. Acupuncture cannot cure your rheumatoid arthritis. We also know acupuncture can help ease some of your other conditions accompanying your rheumatoid arthritis. Depression is a good example.

Facing a major health problem is not easy. I know, I face one every day. Not only that…deciding on the most prudent traditional and alternative medicine treatments can be very confusing.

As you read, you will have the opportunity to look at your traditional and alternative medicine options. For now, allow me to give you a general overview of why drugs are considered. In the future we’ll have a look at the pros and cons of the drugs used for rheumatoid arthritis.

When drugs are used to treat people with rheumatoid arthritis, we have two goals. Our first goal is to reduce the pain and swelling in your joints. Once we get the swelling in your joints under control, you will experience less pain. Our second goal is to slow or stop your joint damage.

Deciding if you should take drugs and if so…deciding which rheumatoid arthritis medication is right for you, can be overwhelming. With more choices than ever out there, how do you know which drug or combination of drugs is best for you?Let’s go over some of your options.

There are 5 main categories of drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis:

· Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)

· Analgesic Drugs

· Glucocorticoids or Prednisone

· Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (DMARDs)

· Biologic Response Modifiers (BMRs)

Okay, so now you know the types of drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, but what do they do?

Deciding if you should take drugs and if so…deciding which rheumatoid arthritis medication is right for you, can be overwhelming. With more choices than ever out there, how do you know which drug or combination of drugs is best for you? Let’s go over some of your options.

There are 5 main categories of drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis:

· Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)

· Analgesic Drugs

· Glucocorticoids or Prednisone

· Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (DMARDs)

· Biologic Response Modifiers (BMRs)

Okay, so now you know the types of drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, but what do they do? I talked about NSAIDs and Analgesic drugs in my prior thread,  let’s review the pros and cons of the last 3 types.

Glucocorticoids or Prednisone

These drugs are part of the steroid family. They may relieve your pain from rheumatoid arthritis, and they may even slow joint damage. But, these drugs also have some strong side effects. It is like being under extreme stress constantly. As you can imagine, it’s really important to take the lowest dose possible to treat your disease. The most common side effects people experience when taking these drugs are weight gain, anxiety, irritability and mood swings. In the long term they lower your immune system and make you more likely to get other diseases.

Did you know meditation is a great natural way to ease your rheumatoid arthritis pain?

And the best part is it requires no special equipment, clothing, supplements, drugs or surgery. In fact, it may even be covered by your medical insurance!

You may be surprised to learn today it’s common to find meditation being taught in clinics, hospitals, and even in your doctor’s office. That’s because we know that meditation can help you experience less pain, anxiety, stress, and depression – all common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Some experts even think alternative medicine like meditation can help your immune system heal your body.

If you suffer from arthritis, relief may only be as far away as your chiropractor’s office.

That’s because chiropractors understand if your spine is not aligned properly, you may be at a higher risk for disease.

To fully understand how your chiropractor can help your arthritis, let’s take a look at what you can expect your chiropractor to do:

Years ago, you’d never hear a doctor tell an arthritis patient to “go for a swim” or “go take a hike”. That’s because we used to think that arthritis was just something that came along with old age, and it was just your body’s way of telling you it was time to slow down.

But not anymore.

Today, we know that exercise is a great alternative medicine treatment to help manage your arthritis.

Your chiropractor can work with you to create an exercise program that will: