Laurin Howell, age 10, of Asheville, N.C., for her question:
IS GOLD USED IN TREATING ARTHRITIS?
Some doctors use gold salts in treating some of their rheumatoid arthritis patients.
The cause of rheumatoid arthritis is still unknown, although there are many theories. Treatment has been developed on a trial and error basis to give the patient relief or to retard the development of the disease rather than to cure it.
Aspirin and other forms of salicylate are the most common and effective drugs to relieve the pain and reduce the inflammation of arthritis. Cortisone and other corticosteroids have had dramatic success in reducing inflammation and pain in some patients, but their use is limited because of their side effects.
Sometimes the doctor elects to give water soluble gold compounds along with salicyclates. The preparation contains gold sodim thiosulfate, gold sodium thiomalate and gold thioglucose. Although some arthritis sufferers experience relief from this gold treatment, the majority find the treatment only of limited benefit.
Often patients using gold salts also suffer side effects from the toxicity of the compound.
Doctors find that bed rest, warm baths, hot packs, heat lamps and applications of hot paraffin are sometimes helpful in reducing joint pain. Exercise is also very important to the arthritic, as it helps keep the joints from stiffening.
Arthritic patients should also have well balanced, nutritious meals. Special diets and vitamin supplements have been tried, but in general have proven to be ineffective.
Many people with rheumatoid arthritis say they feel much better in warm, dry climates, but medical science doubts that climate is a factor in causing or curing the disease. It is known, however, that arthritic patients do feel worse when the humidity is high and the barometric pressure is low.
For sufferers of severe rheumatoid arthritis, surgery to remove abnormal synovial tissue has often been helpful.
The rheumatoid arthritis patient may also need splints, braces and casts. If braces are used, they must be designed to allow for simple exercise, to prevent permanent loss of movement.
Most people with arthritis suffer most in the morning, just after they get out of bed. The muscles feel stiff and may hurt. Joints may be painful. The patient may also be unable to move freely until he has had a chance to loosen up.
Rheumatoid arthritis tends to abate and flare up from time to time. Often each new episode is worse than the one before. The pattern varies with the individual.
About 20 percent of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis have full remission, meaning they fully recover from the pain and other outward signs of the disease.