Juvenile Arthritis
BackCare Awareness Week message to carers: watch your back!
BackCare Awareness Week starts today and this year the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) has developed the following simple tips for the 6.5 million carers in the UK to help them while they’re helping others.
• Think ahead – assess each situation and look for the best and easiest way to achieve the desired result. This may mean using any available equipment whether it be for specialist lifting or a simple sack barrow for moving boxes of supplies. Continue reading
Under the spotlight: reflexology
Used to heal since ancient Egyptian times, we look at how reflexology may help people with arthritis
Reflexology is a complementary therapy that hinges on the belief that there are reflex areas in the feet and hands that correspond to the organs and glands of the body. Stimulating these areas correctly can create a positive effect in the corresponding part of the body.
Evidence exists that reflexology has been practised since ancient Egyptian times. Today it is relatively common – and can be used to treat arthritis according to the British Reflexology Association. Continue reading
Brain marker can predict chronic pain
People who have a particular abnormality in their brain structure are more likely to develop chronic pain after a lower back injury, says research published in Pain.
US scientists carried out MRI scans on 46 people who had developed a lower back injury in the past four weeks but had not experienced any back pain in the previous year. A year later MRI scans were redone. By then, half of the patients had improvements in their back pain (regardless of any treatment they had). Continue reading
New drug available for a serious form of childhood arthritis
Active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis – a serious form of childhood arthritis – can now be treated by a drug called Ilaris in the EU.
Positive clinical trials led to the European Commission agreeing that Ilaris is available for the treatment of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a disease that can involve spiking fever, rash and arthritis in children as young as two. Continue reading
Aromatherapy could treat post-operation nausea
Aromatherapy and intravenous administration of a sugar solution could offer an effective alternative to drugs when it comes to treating the nausea many experience after operations, says research published in Anesthesia & Analgesia.
A total of 301 people who were nauseous after surgery received one of four types of aromatherapy. Two groups received true aromatherapy, with essential oil of ginger or a blend of oils (ginger, spearmint, peppermint and cardamom) placed on a gauze pad. The other groups were given gauze pads with non-aromatherapy solutions: either rubbing alcohol or a saline solution (the placebo). Continue reading
