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Prevention is better than treatment for osteoarthritis
“Prevention might be as simple as increasing daily amounts of vitamin K, either by eating green vegetables or taking supplements. Recent research from the Multi-Center Osteoarthritis study revealed that vitamin K has an important role in preventing OA. Vitamin K is necessary for a number of biochemical processes that involve bone and cartilage formation and maintenance.”
Most doctors treat osteoarthritis by reducing the symptoms and eventual joint replacement but recent studies suggest that having a sufficiency of vitamin K in your diet can significantly reduce the risk of getting osteoarthritis in the first place. Earlier I provided information about the benefits of vitamin K and the likelihood that seniors may be deficient. Vitamin K is important in managing the management of calcium in the body by keeping it out of the arteries and in the bones. Now it seems that Vitamin K is helpful in maintaining and repairing cartilage as well.
Vitamin K is easy to find.
Vitamin K is readily available in leafy green vegetables or an inexpensive supplement. This is definitely preferable to the pain and expense of treating osteoarthritis. Not to mention the other benefits of Vitamin K.
Thanks Ralph. I suffer from arthritis in the left knee and right shoulder. I’m not even ready to consider replacement as an option, and am trying to get by on Aleve and Glucosamine Chondoitin. Right now I am literally getting ready to go to Trader Joes, and will add vitamin K to the list.
Make sure that what you get has K2 in the mix.
You’ll get tired of me harping on this, but…
Get as much as you can of this and other vitamins and minerals from natural sources, not chemically created supplements. Many vitamins and minerals created in the lab are not as easily assimilated as those occurring naturally and the necessary dosage for the same results can often be many times higher…even to the point of being toxic.
Bob,
Have I ever tried to argue with you?
This may open a can of worms, but what do you think about medical marijuana for those of us that are past the prevention stage and deeply into the suffering from pain phase of arthritis? Wonder what Bob thinks. It’s totally natural and can even be grown organically. A post from you on it in combination with retirement living could be interesting. I live in California, and it’s legal here per 11362.5 H&S.
Hansi’s last Blog Post ..Super Powers
Hansi,
My two cents is that if living in LA isn’t enough La La land for you then go for it. I know it is easy to qualify at Venice Beach. Personally, I would give the Vit K and maybe some other nutritional s a chance first. I think all the marijuana does is help with the pain and give you the munchies. Your drawings suggest that you are high most of the time anyway.
Ralph@retirement lifestyle’s last Blog Post ..Revisiting Obstacles
One issue with two answers from two directions…medical and legal. First the medical…
If you want symptom relief, go for it. I have the same problem with medical weed as I do with almost ALL big pharme drugs…they relieve symptoms without correcting the problem. If that’s good enough for you then go for it. For me, I’d just rather see the problem fixed instead of getting temporarily pain relief.
Now the legal.
I’m politically conservative…constitutional conservative, not the fake conservatives we’ve had for years, calling themselves republicans and acting like democrats and progressives.
A conservative…a constitutional conservative…would have the attitude expressed by Thomas Jefferson, “If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket, what my nighbor does is none of my business.”
In my opinion using mind altering drugs is stupid, and I include alcohol in that…but bing stupid should not be illegal. What you do in your home is your business, not mine, be it drinking likker, smoking dope, sniffing powder, or shoving a needle in your arm. Laws are supposed to keep me from punching you in the nose or you punching me, but if you want to slam your own nose into the wall at your home…go for it.
Get out on the road while high…that’s a different story. Now you are putting me and my family at risk, and your ass needs to go to jail.
This comes from a recovering alcoholic who managed to get two DUI’s in 10 days, the last one involving a wreck with a school bus.
Get drunk…get high…at home…fine. Do it where you put people in danger and you need what I got…jail time.
Bob…I agree with ya on both points. Weed is definitely for symptomatic relief only. If one suffers from chronic pain such as arthritis, the relief actually comes from NOT thinking or dwelling upon the pain you are feeling all the time. When One is laying on their couch listening to Hendrix, or laughing their ass off, They are not being constantly reminded how any movement of a knee, shoulder or foot hurts like hell.
Politically, folks would deem me a bleeding heart liberal.,[probably figured that one out by now]. But I can find no argument against for your constitutionally conservative views. I do feel that alcohol is by far a more destructive drug than weed. In my 30 years as a Probation Officer, booze was always the culprit behind domestic violence, assaults, and of course DUI’s; rarely weed.
Hansi’s last Blog Post ..Super Powers
Just thought I would throw my lot in here Ralph.
I have arthritis in the knees, probably through football (soccer) and my business (now retired). I have tried Glucosamine with Chondroitin but wasn’t convinced it worked.
My solution is to walk a minimum of 5 miles per day, whether it will work long term I don’t know but I am certainly no worse.
Bill
Ashton-under-Lyne, UK
Bill Murney’s last Blog Post ..Even More Beer
Bill,
That is an admirable attitude. Not many people are willing to do it however. You might try the Vit K to see if it can help restore the cartilage as well.