What is the cause of rheumatism and what should be the diet and treatment for people suffering from rheumatism?
Causes
Q. What is the cause of rheumatism and what should be
the diet and treatment for people suffering from rheumatism?
A. The term rheumatism is
somewhat loosely employed. It is applied to inflammatory
conditions of the joints, to degenerative changes in the joints, and to painful affections of the nerves and
muscles. These conditions are due to a great
variety of causes, and hence cannot be considered
as a single or well-defined disease.
Inflammation of the joints is due to infection. Degenerative changes may be due to infection, or to the
influence of toxins absorbed from the
intestine, or from other parts. Rheumatism
of the muscles and nerves is probably due in most cases
to toxins, the most common source of which is
the intestine. An infected condition of the tonsils is known to be a frequent cause of joint rheumatism. Colitis,
infection of the colon-a frequent result of
constipation- is
very often associated with rheumatism.
In general, the
diet should be anti-toxic and laxative. That
is, meats of all kinds and condiments should be
discarded, and the diet should be made bulky, consisting of fruits and vegetables.
Potatoes and other vegetables and fresh
fruits should chiefly compose the diet.
Simple rheumatism is quite promptly cured by rest in bed and proper applications to the affected joints. The best measures are the following. Apply very hot fomentations to the joints three times a day. A
wet compress, should be worn all the time, both day and night. Care should be taken to cover the compress to keep it very warm. The photophore or electric light is also an excellent means for treatment of rheumatism.
The great success of
certain European springs in the treatment of
rheumatism is chiefly due perhaps to the small amount of radium found in the
water.
It is, of course,
important that the bowels should be kept active by the free use of bran and paraffin in addition to a laxative diet. The bowels should move three or four times a day. Most persons afflicted with rheumatism are suffering from colitis or chronic constipation. The tongue must be made
clean and the breath sweet.
The skin must be made
active and the kidneys must be made to act
freely by copious water drinking. A person
should take three or four pints daily. Massage of the joints and applications of electricity, electric light
baths and tonic cold rubbings are of great service as curative measures.
Deforming rheumatism, sometimes known as rheumatic gout, rheumatoid arthritis or osteo-arthritis is a
degenerative disease and cannot often
be entirely cured, though it may generally be arrested. The best measures are
those above mentioned as adapted to the treatment of rheumatism. The pains in
the bones and cartilages which accompany this form of
rheumatism cannot be influenced by
treatment. The soreness and pain in the joints can usually be relieved by hot
applications and the use of the heating compress.