Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an inflammatory autoimmune disease that causes the body to invade the soft bone cartilage that surrounds the joints. It is a highly debilitating and often painful condition that often leads to immobilization caused by severe pain, or at worst, the destruction of the joint itself. In addition, RA is a systemic disease. This means that from a diseased joint, the disease tends to invade surrounding tissues and even distant organs such as blood vessels, heart, lungs, muscle tissue and skin. This is why RA is considered a multi-system autoimmune disorder.
RA causes painful discomfort and swelling of the soft tissue that can pump the tissue near or around it when the disease occurs. Pain generally increases or decreases when people start to use the affected joints, but there is usually stiffness in the joints especially in the morning. Therefore, RA is the worst in the early morning, or at least, when people wake up. RA patients also tend to experience other medical conditions such as anemia, pulmonary cystic fibrosis, gastrointestinal bleeding, hepatosplenomegaly (enlargement of the liver and spleen) leukopenia (a steady reduction of white blood cells in the system) and lymphocytic infiltration that can affect salivary glands and lacrimal glands or tears.
Unless detected and treated early in its development, RA not only disables, but can also cause defects. In the United States, it is estimated that one in three Americans is currently suffering from RA. It also predicts that this number will grow at an alarming rate as time goes by. Although these medical conditions are usually associated with the onset of old age, children under the age of 18 also experience ravaging disease. So far, no treatment has been available to cure or remove rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, but there are ways to reduce the pain, and may help stop the disease from making "satellite" infections to other organs.
Among the more "historic," otherwise, controversial forms of treatment include acupuncture, stung by bees or stingers, continuing the apple diet (literally taken from the saying, "apple a day ..."), continuing rafarb diets, fasting, salt intake gold or honey or insulin or nutmeg or vitamins, wearing copper bracelets, undergoing magnetic treatment, and even extraction (maybe thinking that one pain can overcome another, but how many teeth can be switched in favor of release?) a very controversial treatment mode before called ECT or electric seizure therapy or electric shock therapy; it has long been abolished for lack of clear success compared to the battle with RA.
Usually, doctors prescribe anything more than pharmacological treatment for RA such as anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents. However, today scientists are turning to unusual paths - especially in the form of human growth hormone treatments. You see, the human growth hormone contains IGF-1 which in a healthy dose is responsible for healing damaged cells and helping to develop new ones. IGF-1 is also responsible for strengthening and promoting bone, including soft connective tissue in human joints called ligaments. There have been recent studies showing that the reintroduction of IGF-1 prescriptions actually reduces arthritis symptoms and helps strengthen joints, making it portable and accessible with less pain.
Human Growth Hormone - For Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
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