Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) include inflammation, pain, swelling, morning stiffness in synovial joints, bone destruction, and functional deformity. The pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-ɑ) are involved in the pathophysiology of the disease
There are many that suffer with RA. Approximately 1.5 million U.S. adults have RA. There are many treatment modalities both in conventional and integrative/functional medicine to be considered.
In conventional medicine, drug therapy is the treatment of choice. Older rheumatologists will start with steroids and progress to other drugs as methotrexate, plaquenil and even new drugs like Rinvoq ( upadactinib ). All druhs have some side effects
The first treatment in integrative medicine should be a change in dietary lifetsyle. The individual must reduce inflammation by choosing an anti inflammatory dietary approach. The individual should also find otu what foods he/she is sensitive to. These must be identified and stopped.
I am a big proponent of low dose naltrexone ( LDN) for a patient with RA There are peer review journal and research article to validate its use. There are many anti inflammatory herbs that can alleviate symptoms as ginger, tumeric, slippery elm, devil’s claw and cats claw. There are others. There are supplements that can also work as alpha lipoic acid and certain vitamins as B12/ folic acid. Recently an article in Herbalgram by the American Botanical Council was published on the use of saffron. The article was published :
Hamidi Z, Aryaeian N, Abolghasemi J, et al. The effect of saffron supplement on clinical outcomes and metabolic profiles in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytother Res. July 2020;34(7):1650-1658. doi:10.1002/ptr.6633.
In the article it stated “ At the end of the study, significant decreases in tenderness and swelling in the joints, pain intensity based on a visual analogue scale, and DSA were observed in the saffron group compared with the placebo group “