Juvenile arthritis unlikely to mar job prospects

health.yahoo.com — Young adults who grew up battling juvenile arthritis, a chronic and sometimes disabling condition, seem to attain a level of education and occupation similar to that of their unaffected peers, new research shows. "These resilient outcomes are reassuring, but also a little surprising in light of previous research that has suggested adults affected by juvenile arthritis may have more difficulties with employment," Dr. Cynthia A. Gerhardt from The Ohio State University and The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, told Reuters Health. Juvenile arthritis affects 30,000 to 50,000 children in the US annually, Gerhardt and her colleagues note in the medical journal Arthritis & Rheumatism. It's widely believed that children outgrow the disease, but recent evidence has suggested that many children have recurrent disease into adulthood and long-term physical symptoms. read more...

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Old World Frankincense Offers Hope for Arthritis

healthnews.com — Osteoarthritis—the most common form of arthritis—generally targets weight-bearing joints such as the knees and hips, but can also affect the hands, wrists, feet and spine. It is characterized by chronic painful swelling and stiffness in the joints which restricts movement, often making even simple daily tasks difficult. Evidence of osteoarthritis (OA) dates back as far as the Ice Age, while the cause of the disease is still not completely know nor is there a cure, it afflicts almost 30 million people in the United States alone. The typical treatment for OA is some form of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to reduce the swelling, but they come with many adverse side effects: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, decreased appetite, rash, dizziness, headache, and drowsiness and their use may lead to kidney and liver failure, ulcers, and prolonged bleeding after an injury or surgery. “The high incidence of adverse effects associated with currently available medications has created great interest in the search for an effective and safe alternative treatment,” said Siba Raychaudhuri, a faculty member of the University of California, Davis, who led new research showing that the old Indian herb frankincense had a surprising analgesic effect on the symptoms of osteoarthritis. read more...

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