KNEE PAIN -- ARTHRITIS ...
Types of Arthritis Arthritis is the knee's biggest enemy. Caused by injury, disease, or just the passing of time, arthritis causes the pain and joint damage that can lead to hip and knee replacement.The following offers a summary of information about arthritis.
What is arthritis?Arthritis is the number one cause of chronic disability in the United States. Affecting nearly 40 million Americans, it refers to more than 100 diseases that cause pain, stiffness and swelling from the inflammation of a joint or the area around joints.
The three basic types of arthritis that may cause hip and knee pain:osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis (most commonly rheumatoid arthritis), and traumatic arthritis.What causes arthritis?
The causes of the 100 types of arthritis are unknown. Because there are so many different forms of arthritis, the causes are likely to vary. Scientists are currently examining how the roles of major factors including genetics and lifestyles affect the development of arthritis.
What changes occur in the cartilage of an arthritic hip?
In a healthy hip cartilage cushions the area surrounding the hip ball and socket to allow easy movement without pain. In an unhealthy hip, the cartilage is damaged or worn away causing pain from bones rubbing and grinding together.
What changes occur in the cartilage of an arthritic knee?
In a healthy knee cartilage protects and cushions bone surfaces that come together at the joint allowing bones to move without friction. In an unhealthy knee, cartilage is damaged or worn away causing pain from bones rubbing together.
MEDICINAL LEECHES AND ARTHRITIS
Our joints need synovial fluid to move freely and pain-free. The articular surfaces of bones making up a joint are lined with lubricating membranes. Small membrane sacs, or bursae, occur in the space between the bones of most joints. These membranes lining joints are known as synovial membranes because they secrete synovial lubricating fluid. People suffering arthritis have less synovial fluid, causing pain on movement. The edges of the bones as well as the cartilages also deteriorate, adding more tenderness to the already painful joint. This causes inflammation due to tissue damage and prolonged, untreated arthritis can lead to deformities.
The leeches' saliva assists in the treatment of arthritis. There are many substances and compounds (such as biologically active proteins) in their saliva that reduces inflammation in a joint, some of which are the compounds that are called bdelins and eglins, acting as an anti-inflammatory. Aside from anti-inflammatory components, their saliva also has an anesthetic component that deadens the pain felt in the joint and also has a histamine-like substance that acts as a vasodilator. Acetylcholine, another component of the leech's saliva is also a vasodilator.
This is important in the treatment of arthritis because when the vessels dilate [expand], it increases the flow of blood, thus, washing away the compounds that cause pain and inflammation.
All cases are individual, but on average, medicinal leech therapy is usually performed three times a week for approximately six weeks. Improvement in joint pain and inflammation will be noticed within the first few sessions. Not only it is a safe way to treat arthritis, but it has also been used as a biocure for this disease for many, many years.
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"The active role and sensitivity of the leech is a special feature of leech therapy. The leech is equipped with an extremely sensitive nervous system, which it uses to inspect the host and the host's blood. The dosage of secreted saliva is presumably adjusted in accordance with the leech's "preliminary examination findings."Based on an understanding of its multifactorial mechanisms and aspects for its symptom-specific application, leech therapy can also be recommended to treat rheumatic diseases and chronic pain syndromes of the musculoskeletal system, as we know from 35 years of experience with this treatment modality.
U. Storck, MD, Rheumatic Disease Center, Germany
Integrative Medicine Department at the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Kliniken Essen-Mitte in Germany where leech studies have been done:
"...leech therapy has been offered for years for osteoarthritis of the knee, thumb, hip, and for epicondylitis, as well as in Traumatic Arthritis for reduction of areas of blood congestion due to injury."
AND NOW - Case Studies: Medicinal leeches vs. Diclofenac cream, an anti-inflammatory cream for knee pain
"The reduction in the symptoms of osteoarthritis have also been previously noted. Follow-up studies in Europe have been done, and the placement of leeches on the arthritic knees of patients did appear to reduce the symptoms of arthritic knee inflammation in at least one German study. A new Canadian study in the current issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at this issue in a study that included 51 patients with chronic knee arthritis.
The patients were divided into two treatment groups. One group of 24 patients received a single treatment involving the application of 4 to 6 leeches to the inflamed knee, while the remaining 27 patients were treated by applying an
anti-inflammatory cream (topical diclofenac) to their arthritic knees daily for a period of 28 days. The patients were then surveyed at 3, 7, 28 and 91 days after initiation of either therapy. At day 7, the patients who had received leech therapy reported less knee pain than the patients who received the anti-inflammatory cream. When the scientists looked at joint
stiffness and function, as well as overall knee symptoms, they discovered that the patients who had received leech therapy reported less severe symptoms in these categories, up to day 28, when compared to the patients who had been treated with diclofenac cream."
Dr. Robert A. Wascher
Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon,
professor of surgery, oncology research scientist, and author.
Types of Arthritis Arthritis is the knee's biggest enemy. Caused by injury, disease, or just the passing of time, arthritis causes the pain and joint damage that can lead to hip and knee replacement.The following offers a summary of information about arthritis.
What is arthritis?Arthritis is the number one cause of chronic disability in the United States. Affecting nearly 40 million Americans, it refers to more than 100 diseases that cause pain, stiffness and swelling from the inflammation of a joint or the area around joints.
The three basic types of arthritis that may cause hip and knee pain:osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis (most commonly rheumatoid arthritis), and traumatic arthritis.What causes arthritis?
The causes of the 100 types of arthritis are unknown. Because there are so many different forms of arthritis, the causes are likely to vary. Scientists are currently examining how the roles of major factors including genetics and lifestyles affect the development of arthritis.
What changes occur in the cartilage of an arthritic hip?
In a healthy hip cartilage cushions the area surrounding the hip ball and socket to allow easy movement without pain. In an unhealthy hip, the cartilage is damaged or worn away causing pain from bones rubbing and grinding together.
What changes occur in the cartilage of an arthritic knee?
In a healthy knee cartilage protects and cushions bone surfaces that come together at the joint allowing bones to move without friction. In an unhealthy knee, cartilage is damaged or worn away causing pain from bones rubbing together.
MEDICINAL LEECHES AND ARTHRITIS
Our joints need synovial fluid to move freely and pain-free. The articular surfaces of bones making up a joint are lined with lubricating membranes. Small membrane sacs, or bursae, occur in the space between the bones of most joints. These membranes lining joints are known as synovial membranes because they secrete synovial lubricating fluid. People suffering arthritis have less synovial fluid, causing pain on movement. The edges of the bones as well as the cartilages also deteriorate, adding more tenderness to the already painful joint. This causes inflammation due to tissue damage and prolonged, untreated arthritis can lead to deformities.
The leeches' saliva assists in the treatment of arthritis. There are many substances and compounds (such as biologically active proteins) in their saliva that reduces inflammation in a joint, some of which are the compounds that are called bdelins and eglins, acting as an anti-inflammatory. Aside from anti-inflammatory components, their saliva also has an anesthetic component that deadens the pain felt in the joint and also has a histamine-like substance that acts as a vasodilator. Acetylcholine, another component of the leech's saliva is also a vasodilator.
This is important in the treatment of arthritis because when the vessels dilate [expand], it increases the flow of blood, thus, washing away the compounds that cause pain and inflammation.
All cases are individual, but on average, medicinal leech therapy is usually performed three times a week for approximately six weeks. Improvement in joint pain and inflammation will be noticed within the first few sessions. Not only it is a safe way to treat arthritis, but it has also been used as a biocure for this disease for many, many years.
=================================
"The active role and sensitivity of the leech is a special feature of leech therapy. The leech is equipped with an extremely sensitive nervous system, which it uses to inspect the host and the host's blood. The dosage of secreted saliva is presumably adjusted in accordance with the leech's "preliminary examination findings."Based on an understanding of its multifactorial mechanisms and aspects for its symptom-specific application, leech therapy can also be recommended to treat rheumatic diseases and chronic pain syndromes of the musculoskeletal system, as we know from 35 years of experience with this treatment modality.
U. Storck, MD, Rheumatic Disease Center, Germany
Integrative Medicine Department at the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Kliniken Essen-Mitte in Germany where leech studies have been done:
"...leech therapy has been offered for years for osteoarthritis of the knee, thumb, hip, and for epicondylitis, as well as in Traumatic Arthritis for reduction of areas of blood congestion due to injury."
AND NOW - Case Studies: Medicinal leeches vs. Diclofenac cream, an anti-inflammatory cream for knee pain
"The reduction in the symptoms of osteoarthritis have also been previously noted. Follow-up studies in Europe have been done, and the placement of leeches on the arthritic knees of patients did appear to reduce the symptoms of arthritic knee inflammation in at least one German study. A new Canadian study in the current issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at this issue in a study that included 51 patients with chronic knee arthritis.
The patients were divided into two treatment groups. One group of 24 patients received a single treatment involving the application of 4 to 6 leeches to the inflamed knee, while the remaining 27 patients were treated by applying an
anti-inflammatory cream (topical diclofenac) to their arthritic knees daily for a period of 28 days. The patients were then surveyed at 3, 7, 28 and 91 days after initiation of either therapy. At day 7, the patients who had received leech therapy reported less knee pain than the patients who received the anti-inflammatory cream. When the scientists looked at joint
stiffness and function, as well as overall knee symptoms, they discovered that the patients who had received leech therapy reported less severe symptoms in these categories, up to day 28, when compared to the patients who had been treated with diclofenac cream."
Dr. Robert A. Wascher
Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon,
professor of surgery, oncology research scientist, and author.