Posted on 12/01/2008 5:51:39 PM PST by djf
Kim Adair fights a daily battle with arthritis.
"With 10 being the worst, I would say it's about a 7 or 8,” she said.
But she recently found relief in a study at Baylor University using cherries.
"They have a lot of the same properties that common anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen or naproxen will have," said Dr. John Cush, Rheumatologist.
Kim took cherry extract gel caps.
"I think about maybe three months, I didn't notice any pain at all," she said.
"Overall, about five out of six patients did very well in the study," said Dr. Cush.
Another plus, cherries don’t have the side effects of prescription drugs.
As soon as the study ended and Kim stopped taking the gel caps, her pain returned.
So she's eating cherries and drinking cherry juice.
"There has been a big difference," she said.
A larger study is under way, but Kim is convinced.
"When I'm stress free and pain free, I'm very happy," she said.
An earlier study found that tart cherries could reduce pain and inflammation brought on by strenuous exercise. The darker the cherry, the better.
"The darker the cherry, the better."
I’ll stick with pain relief from Papaver somniferum, if you don’t mind.
Oh crap, don’t let the Pharms find this out.
No cherry juice for you! Come back one year!
Cherry juice $200.00 a quart. Cherries, 50.00 a pint.
Think I’ll plant a cherry tree. Use to eat them right off the trees when I was little.
I know! I know!
Ain’t gonna touch that one with a ten foot pole...!!
;-)
Ok, explain Papaver somniferum, please.
How much etc. We RA’s would appreciate anything you got.
LOL! I think I will, too, in a more refined form. :)
Interesting article, tho.
The DEA & the ONDCP will probably make it illegal unless there’s some big time PHARMA interest in it: then it will be regulated, taxed and controlled or you will see multi-million dollar taxpayer paid ads against it during the Super Bowl. Remember: the War On Some Drugs is a mutli-billion dollar industry that only benefits corporate, government and Bloated Bill Bennett/Barry McCaffrey’s interests, not yours.
Fight the War On Some Drugs my fellow Freepers!
Poppies.
Opium poppies.
I have known a few ummm... lets call them “users” in my life.
They tell me you still fell the pain. You just don’t give a crap about it.
Aspirin is made of bark, if I’m not mistaken.
Wow - the fruit of God’s earth is good for us! Who knew?!
They might find the active chemicals, slightly tweak them, then call them an “adjunct” or “analog”.
Or get some bioengineering firm to splice a gene into a cherry plant and then claim ownership of every cherry tree on the planet that might have cross bred.
I take tart cherry extract that I buy from swansonvitamins.com. It helps with my arthritis.
The drug warriors will be ok with it as long as it’s restricted to an extremely expensive, patented pill.
It once was, now just made from common coal tar chemicals.
There are also the rum soaked raisins that are said to alleviate the pain of arthritis.
I know of no one who has used them but supposedly they do the job.
Willow bark.
Originally, willow bark.
Synthesized since 1899.
Vitacost generally has pretty good prices. I’m not sure which of their supplements would be best, but maybe this one?
http://www.vitacost.com/Enzymatic-Therapy-Cherry-Fruit-Extract
I cured my RA with herbs. Took a few years but it’s 95% or more gone.
Life is quite different without RA.
Salicilic acid was extracted from the bark. Once the active ingredient was identified, it was synthesized and modified to the more effective acetylsalicilic acid which is aspirin.
If the studies are duplicated, and the active ingredient is identified, enterprising researchers will try to make more effective synthetics. More potent, longer lasting, more convenient.
Of course, there will always be cheries for those who like the taste.
I wonder if dried cherries have the same effect? I’ve heard of people taking ‘rum soaked raisins’ for arthritis, before. I’ll try anything if I have a flare-up of bursitis/arthritis. It’s painful as h377!
http://www.cherryrepublic.com/
A Rheumatologist friend had some interesting observations.
There are a whole bunch of fruits that are useful for their anti-inflammatory and other properties, but you have to try them out to find out which work well for a particular person. Not just black cherries, but tart cherries, mangosteen, pomegranate, cranberry, grape, grape seed extract, etc.
But this can get tricky, because a lot of juices are blends, and just a percentage of them are the juice you want. And if you get pure juice, which is sold in some grocery stores, it can be very strong and bitter, because it has no added sugar.
Other supplements can also be very useful for some people, such as Omega-3 fish oil (not Omega-6), the African herb Boswellia Serrata, which is a specific for knee joints, Cetyl Myristoleate, and MSM (which is DMSO-1) DMSO and DMSO-2 provide a substantial amount of sulfur, which is very important for tissue repair, and which many people are short in their diets. Onions and garlic are also high in sulfur, and sometimes consumed for this reason.
Some old fashioned remedies like unflavored gelatin or liquid Certo fruit pectin in a little grape juice are still popular as well.
Some people insist that gin raisins work for them. Specifically, yellow raisins soaked in gin. This may not be as ludicrous as it sounds, because the alcohol may make available some ingredient in the raisins. (A similar effect is found in the availability of lycopene in tomatoes, that processing tends to concentrate this heart healthy substance. Not good for inflammation, though)
A proven means to help protect the joints is glucosamine supplements, which won’t effect inflammation, just help limit its damage.
Lots of herbs are used as well, so it helps to do research and experiment.
My sister’s was much worse than mine but she finally cured hers, too. She went on a “leaky gut syndrome” diet. It was drastic but it had to be done. The drugs the doctors had her on were killing her. She is drug free now, too.
So many drugs have horrible side effects, don’t really cure anything but mask pain or symptoms. Plus expensive.
I use herbs almost exclusively for our ailments, including cats!
Wild cherry leaves are toxic. If I remember my chemistry correctly they produce cyanide and are a hazard to livestock.
“I cured my RA with herbs. Took a few years but it’s 95% or more gone.”
Can you give some more details or send me a freepmail? I’ve got a relative that is really having challenges with RA.
I have used the regular old red tart cherries to treat gout for many years. When the joint on my big toe gets a red spot and begins to swell, I open a can and eat about a third of them. I finish the remainder at about four hour intervals and the swelling and pain disappear.
Dear Ann Landers, I have two cherry trees I planted a couple years ago bearing fruit, plus a wild one up in the fence row, and planted two more last spring. Now I have to worry about all those achy buggers poaching my cherries, and my 12 gauge is a hundred year old single shot my father had. What should I do? /s/ Li’l’ Orphan Orchard Boy.
“I use herbs almost exclusively for our ailments, including cats!”
I don’t consider my cats to be an ailment.
Grow your own, I have one and they are easy and fun to grow.
http://gurneys.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_08087
I wasn’t clear, was I...
I feed them diatomaceous earth to keep them parasite free, cured one of a bad worm that way. Also used herb tinctures for their other ailments, they don’t have many fortunately.
I’ll freepmail.
::::snickering::::
Most cherry juice is cut with apple juice. It's pretty rare and expensive when found in the pure state. My local market offers pure blueberry juice. It's very tart and fairly expensive as well.
I put down (4) 200 mg ibuprofen before bed to reduce the arthritic pain in my back to levels suitable for sleeping.
It is Choke Cherry leaves, bark and twigs that contain cyanide. A 1/4 lb of leaves is a fatal dose for a horse.
It turns out that black cherries and pin cherries also produce "prussic acid" aka HCN (hydrogen cyanide). Perhaps the cherry trees need to be evicted from my yard. I don't want my Rat Terriers poisoned.
Now watch for attempts to criminalize cherries. The DEA will make George Washington look like an amateur when they find out about this if they follow their typical patterns. Heroin is 100% effective against pain and even possessing it is a crime in this country.
Are you taking lots of Ester C?
I don’t use herbs but I use lots of Ester C and Vit D. I also do not go to doctors. They’ll kill you.
Take 2 grams Ester C whenever you experience pain. It works for me and makes me healthier.
Google "pain, Vitamin C"
I'd like to find someone that does intravenous Vit C if I ever have need of it for pain.
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