What You Need to Know about Arthritis

What You Need to Know about Arthritis
Rudy Silva

Arthritis signals people in a variety of ways. Joints might crack when you suddenly stand up or move. Other joints may be stiff and creak. Maybe pain occurs, when you’re trying to open a jar, or type on your keyboard.
Arthritis means “joint inflammation” and has over 100 related conditions or types of disease. Untreated, it can advance, resulting in joint damage that is difficult to undo or reverse. So early detection and treatment are important.
The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although both have similar symptoms, both happen for different reasons. When joints are overused and misused, this results in OA. What happens is the cushioning cartilage that protects the joints breaks down, resulting in bones rubbing together. This generally happens in the knees, but can be found in the hips, spine and hands.

In RA the body’s immune system attacks joint tissue. Still not fully understood by doctors, this condition often starts in a person’s hands, wrists and feet. Then it advances to shoulders, elbows and hips.
Similar symptoms include pain, stiffness, fatigue, weakness, slight fever and inflamed tissue lumps under the skin. And both OA and RA generally develop symmetrically, i.e. affecting the same joints on both the left and right sides of the body.
A difference in OA and RA is in the way you swell. With RA, people report “soft and squishy” swelling. While with OA, people report “hard and bony” swelling.
Another difference is you are likely to develop RA if a sibling or parent had it. If you have a history of joint damage, either an injury or chronic strain, you run a higher risk for developing OA.
There is no specific age for arthritis sufferers. While it can affect every age group, it seems to occur more frequently on those over 45 years.
And while neither gender is immune, a reported 74 percent of OA cases and a slightly lower percentage of RA cases occur with women.
People with excess weight tend to develop OA, especially in the knees when reaching over 45 years. However, losing weight can turn the odds around almost by half. Regular activity combined with exercise also reduces risk of OA
Although there are no cure-alls for arthritis, there are a variety of pain relief treatment strategies. Aside from medications, remedies, replacement alternatives and other helpful treatment options and alternatives, the five main arthritis relief aids are gentle exercise, good nutrition, special herbal and other nutrients, a positive attitude and rest.
Today, only a small percentage of those afflicted with arthritis become crippled. And most never need canes, wheelchairs, or other ambulatory devices.
If you suspect you may have arthritis, it is advisable to seek medical advice from your doctor or alternative practitioner. Look to reduce pain and inflammation using natural remedies before you decide on using doctor prescribed drugs. About the Author
Rudy Silva has a degree in Physics and is a Natural Nutritionist. He writes a newsletter call “Natural Remedies Thatwork.” For more information and remedies on arthritis and essential fatty acids, visit his web site at http://www.arthritis-remedies.for–you.info http://www.fatty-acid-remedies.for–you.info

Maximising Manhood and Beating Male Menopause, Believe You Can

When a man reaches the age of 45, he started to worry of the next stage-death. Subsequently, his fear of being the next in line among his friends or relatives who had passed away drives him to do some silly things. And his tendency is to find more exciting things to venture on, just so he could hide the inactiveness and hormonal changes hes feeling inside.

That stage in man’s life is called male menopause or andropause in medical terms.

Loss of vitality and fluctuation of virility level are the primary symptoms of andropause. This is due to the changes in production of the male sex hormones. In most cases, this predicament occurs at the age of 45 up to 55. But before the occurrence of andropause, there comes the mid-life crisis.

Dr. Malcolm Carruthers, the author of the book Maximizing Manhood: Beating male menopause explained the difference and occurrence of mid-life crisis and andropause.

These two distinct stages among males are often confused as one. In its real essence, these two are linked with each other since mid-life crisis happens between 35-45 years old right before the andropause period.

However, andropause comes early depending on how bad a man reacts to his mid-life crisis. Or, that it could be delayed if he had sustained a healthy and active lifestyle before this period.

Other signs of andropause include the abnormal drop of energy level, becoming more irritable, loss of sex drives and depression. Although some would consider these instances normal due to aging, you can still do something to overcome these effects. In medicine, andropause had grown to be a problem rather than a stage in life. For this reason, medical science has formulated solutions to this crisis.

Testosterone replacement therapy is formulated to relieve the symptoms of andropause among men. TRT comes in capsule, cream, implant or hormone patch forms. There are also claims for the efficiency of pills that contain male hormones and which can also relieve the symptoms of andropause. For those where neither of these works, pellet implant is also advisable. Testosterone pellets are implanted under the skin of the buttocks. The choice of which depends on how your body reacts to it. See which will work for you best.

The crisis in mans life called andropause is neither inherited nor natural for all men. Unlike that inevitable period among women called menopause, andropause can be beaten.

According to Carruthers study, there are external factors affecting the declination of testosterone level. Commonly, men living a healthy lifestyle decline in testosterone level by 1% yearly when he reaches the age of 40 to 70. This decrease of testosterone is more manifested among the unhealthy men.

Another factor which triggers the symptoms is stress. Both psychological and physical stresses which resorted to too much alcohol and cigarette consumption had aggravated the symptoms.

In most cases, effects of malnutrition or nutritional deficiency are accounted to andropause. Symptoms such as anxiety, loss of memory and low sex drive could be due to aging or deficiency of chromium.

So examining it closely, not all men could suffer the effects of andropause. Such crisis is a big insult to a male body. And staying healthy, especially as you age, is a powerful weapon to overcome male menopause.