Rheumatic Diseases

What you need to know:

This is a group of serious diseases for which complementary medicine is most effective. While there are no alternative treatments that replace the need for conventional medicine or, where it’s required, surgery, there are many ways in which herbs, supplements and therapies can help reduce pain and discomfort and improve the quality of life.

One of your first steps after diagnosis should be to look at your diet. Although most conventional doctors don’t put much store by this, world-wide studies have shown that in populations which eat much more basic foods than our ‘civilised’ Western diet, there’s little or no evidence of rheumatic diseases.

The naturopathic approach is to become a healthy demi-vegetarian - so you don’t eat meat, but you do have fish - avoid high levels of saturated animal fats (found not only in meat, but in dairy products, too) and eat foods rich in protective anti-oxidants, including lots of fruits and vegetables, and have a consistent intake of gamma-linolenic acid and other sources of omega-3 and 6 fatty acids - nuts, seeds and oily fish.

Some studies have shown that avoiding dairy products can also be helpful. This is particularly true in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a crippling condition which attacks children and young people at a tragically young age and is becoming much more common.

You should also be eating more Ginger, pineapples and fish or vegetable curries flavoured with turmeric - they all have an anti-inflammatory action.

It’s essential, however, that you get proper advice from a registered naturopath before making fundamental changes to your diet. And this is crucial if the patient is a child - no whole food groups should be excluded from their diet without discussing this with a professional, particularly if the suspect food is dairy produce; children and young people need these easily-digested calories and you’ll certainly need to know how to replace the bone-building calcium they’ll be lacking if they don’t have milk, cheese, yoghurt etc.

There are natural remedies you could try in the meantime, however.

The most useful Herbs:

  • Curcumin
  • Ginger - extracts of the medicinal Chinese variety of this herb
  • Gingseng
  • Liquorice
  • Flaxseed oil
  • Blackcurrant seed oil
  • Devil’s claw

    • The most useful supplements:

  • Pantothenic acid
  • Vitamin E
  • Vitamin C
  • Selenium
  • Zinc
  • Cod liver oil
  • Green-lipped mussel extract

    • Other useful advice:

    As well as giving dietary advice, a naturopath may be able to soothe and increase the mobility of painful joints with hot and cold water treatments and mud, wax and sea water therapies. Massage and Aromatherapy combined with very gentle osteopathic or chiropractic mobilisation can also be helpful in reducing pain and making the joints more mobile.
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    The information provided by WIS is for guidance only. Whilst it is based upon the expert advice of leading professionals, and extensive research, it is not a substitute for diagnosis by a qualified professional. Always consult your doctor, pharmacist or qualified practitioner before making any changes or additions to prescribed medication.