By: Terry Graedon July 11, 2019 9 Comments
    Show 1172: How Can Antibiotics Affect Your Brain…

    Antibiotics are crucial for treating serious infections, but the specter of bacterial resistance to antibiotics is scary. Many public health experts have called for more diligent antibiotic stewardshi…

    By: Joe Graedon June 20, 2019 13 Comments
    Pomegranate Power Enhances Mitochondria and Cell…

    The ancient Chinese believed that Pomegranates had anti-aging properties. They might have been right. Swiss scientists have identified a metabolite of compounds found in pomegranates. It is called uro…

    By: Terry Graedon May 27, 2019 9 Comments
    Will Gluten-Free Diet Ease Arthritis Pain?

    If you suffer from joint pain, you may have wondered why. Most people never get an explanation. Perhaps the doctor suggests that "wear and tear" has broken down the cartilage. When the doctor ends by …

    By: Terry Graedon May 13, 2019 17 Comments
    How to Substitute Powdered Pectin in Arthritis R…

    Because arthritis is so common, people have invented dozens if not scores of home remedies. Scientists have not done studies on most of these approaches, but that won't stop people from trying them. O…

    By: Terry Graedon April 15, 2019 8 Comments
    Will a Keto Diet Help Eliminate Your Knee Pain?

    Americans are continually searching for the one best diet that will make it easy to maintain a healthy weight, keep blood pressure and blood fats under control and help people feel vigorous. Over the …

    By: Terry Graedon March 28, 2019 11 Comments
    Could a Low-Carbohydrate Diet Ease Your Knee Pai…

    People with troublesome arthritis pain in their knees may want to consider changing the menu, according to a small trial. Researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham studied the effects of …

    By: Terry Graedon March 11, 2019 25 Comments
    Are Gin-Drenched Raisins a Big Joke?

    Whoever said "Getting old isn't for sissies" certainly got it right. As we age, we often accumulate aches and pains that may be attributed to arthritis. People with arthritis are faced with a horrible…

    By: Terry Graedon February 21, 2019 7 Comments
    How Risky Is Shoulder Replacement Surgery?

    Shoulder replacement surgery is becoming increasingly common. Now, researchers writing in The BMJ say that patients should be warned that the risks of this procedure are higher than doctors originally…

    By: Terry Graedon February 18, 2019 4 Comments
    Will Rosemary and Turmeric Help Your Arthritis P…

    People with arthritis pain face a difficult dilemma. Arthritis is a chronic condition, but the usual NSAID pain relievers such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB) and naproxen (Aleve) should be used only …

    By: Terry Graedon February 7, 2019 13 Comments
    Special Creams Fail to Fight Pain

    Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars on specially formulated topical pain creams. Medicare Part D paid more than half a billion dollars for such prescription products in 2015. Doctors may p…

    By: Terry Graedon January 31, 2019 6 Comments
    Can Mindfulness Help You Manage Chronic Pain?

    People in chronic pain often feel abandoned by the medical profession,  especially as physicians are cutting back on prescribing opioids. They may be interested in some nondrug approaches that could …

    By: Terry Graedon January 21, 2019 9 Comments
    Will Pain Reliever Interact with Anticoagulant?

    Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most popular pills in the drugstore. People can buy them without a prescription and use them to treat nearly any type of pain. Although the …

    By: Terry Graedon January 7, 2019 24 Comments
    What Happened to Cod Liver Oil as a Home Remedy?

    The origin of many a home remedy is lost in the mists of time. Usually we don't have a good record of who started using it or when, and we also rarely have information on when and how it falls out of …

    By: Terry Graedon December 20, 2018 9 Comments
    Could Massage Make Your Knees Feel Better?

    A weekly whole-body massage sounds like a luxury, but new research suggests it could help people with knee arthritis live with less pain (Journal of General Internal Medicine, online Dec 12, 2018). It…

    By: Terry Graedon December 17, 2018 9 Comments
    Why Is Duexis So Expensive?

    People with chronic joint pain often find themselves between a rock and a hard place. If they take an NSAID pain reliever, they can keep moving–which is good. But they may also suffer serious digest…

    By: Terry Graedon October 25, 2018 28 Comments
    Show 1140: How Can You Manage Arthritis Pain?

    More than 50 million adult Americans have been diagnosed with arthritis. While osteoarthritis is the most common form, there are many others, including rheumatoid arthritis, gout, psoriatic arthritis …

    By: Terry Graedon October 15, 2018 20 Comments
    Will Osteoporosis Drugs Make Your Joints Hurt?

    As people age, both muscle mass and bone density begin to fade. The consequences of bone loss can be devastating. When bones become weak, they break easily. If an older person fractures a hip, they ma…

    By: Joe Graedon September 5, 2018 159 Comments
    The Dangers of Diclofenac and Other NSAID Pain R…

    Doctors love NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). That’s largely because they don’t have a lot of other tools in the toolkit when it comes to treating pain and inflammation. Opioids have…

    By: Joe Graedon May 14, 2018 13 Comments
    What Are the Best Drugs for a Desert Island Adve…

    Remember Robinson Crusoe? He was the protagonist in a novel written by Daniel Defoe that was published in 1719. Crusoe was stranded on a desert island for 28 years before being rescued. A modern versi…

    By: Terry Graedon April 30, 2018 3 Comments
    Will Arthritis Remedy Block Your Vitamins?

    Many people who take over-the-counter painkillers such as ibuprofen or naproxen for their arthritis pain eventually experience adverse effects. Not only can such nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (…

    By: Terry Graedon April 23, 2018 18 Comments
    No Study Support for Fish Oil Soothing Dry Eyes

    Fish oil is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids. These compounds have anti-inflammatory activity, and doctors have hoped that fish oil supplements would prove useful against a wide range of…

    By: Terry Graedon April 23, 2018 19 Comments
    Will Curcumin Pills Ease Your Knee Pain?

    Who would guess that the yellow spice in curry would become controversial? For centuries, people have been using turmeric to add color and flavor to their food, and in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, …

    By: Terry Graedon April 2, 2018 6 Comments
    Will Bromelain from Pineapple Ease Aching Joints…

    What can you do for the aching joints of arthritis or the sore muscles and soft tissue of fibromyalgia? Many sufferers are caught in a difficult dilemma: without relief for the pain, they have trouble…

    By: Terry Graedon March 26, 2018 10 Comments
    How Can You Ease Arthritis Pain Safely?

    People with chronic pain such as the joint pain of severe osteoarthritis are often faced with terrible trade-offs. To get relief from the inflammation and discomfort, they may have to rely on medicati…

    By: Terry Graedon December 18, 2017 15 Comments
    Can Cocoa in Oatmeal Ease Arthritis Pain?

    Scientists have found that compounds in cocoa can affect the balance of bacteria in the intestines (Magrone, Russo & Jirillo, Frontiers in Immunology, June 9, 2017). Those changes in turn seem to …

    By: Terry Graedon December 11, 2017 0 Comments
    What Is Your Ideal Smoothie to Help with Pain?

    There are precious few good medications for people who suffer chronic pain. NSAIDs like diclofenac, ibuprofen or naproxen can cause bleeding ulcers as well as cardiovascular complications. Anticonvuls…

    By: Terry Graedon July 2, 2017 11 Comments
    What Can Prolotherapy Do for Sore Knees?

    As Americans get older and grayer, we also have to cope with more joint pain. We swallow large quantities of anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs such as ibuprofen or naproxen). Many of us take supplements…

    By: Terry Graedon June 26, 2017 14 Comments
    How to Make Gin-Raisin Remedy

    Would you like to alleviate arthritis pain without drugs? Many people would, especially when they learn about potential NSAID side effects such as bleeding ulcers or cardiovascular complications. But …

    By: Terry Graedon June 1, 2017 7 Comments
    How Good Is Pharmaceutical-Grade Chondroitin?

    In the US, chondroitin sulfate is usually sold as a dietary supplement and taken in conjunction with glucosamine to treat arthritis pain. Most well-controlled trials in this country have shown that th…

    By: Terry Graedon May 15, 2017 18 Comments
    Can You Avoid NSAID Danger with Topical Pain Rel…

    Chronic pain, whether it is severe or moderate, poses a serious dilemma. People need relief from pain, but most medications that they can use for relief have significant downsides. People often take N…

    By: Terry Graedon April 24, 2017 4 Comments
    Could Pain Reliever Cause Ringing in the Ears?

    Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, can be a maddening problem. No one else can see or hear what is going on for the sufferer, so they get too little sympathy. Even so, the ringing, hissing, chirping or…

    By: Joe Graedon September 12, 2016 25 Comments
    How Could A Cortisone Shot Make Tennis Elbow Wor…

    Many physicians and patients think a cortisone shot is a magic bullet when it comes to things like tennis elbow. Such corticosteroid injections can produce quick pain relief, but their long-term ben…

    By: Terry Graedon August 8, 2016 8 Comments
    How to Use Juniper to Fight Arthritis

    There are innumerable home remedies reputed to ease the pain of arthritis. One of the perennial favorites is golden raisins soaked in gin. Nobody knows quite how it works, and people have offered a v…

    By: Terry Graedon July 11, 2016 8 Comments
    How to Use Cherry Juice for Your Joint Pain

    Whoever said "Growing older isn't for sissies!" probably had arthritis. Although it sometimes strikes younger people, the constant ache in knees and hips can make it hard to keep moving.  Pa…

    By: Terry Graedon June 6, 2016 2 Comments
    How to Get Blood Sugar Control Without Sore Join…

    Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar rises even though the body is still making its own insulin. The problem is that cells become resistant to the insulin that is available and are una…

    By: Joe Graedon March 21, 2016 58 Comments
    What is the Connection Between Joint Pain and At…

    Q. You recently answered a question in your column from someone who complained about arthritis. I think you missed an important point. The reader asked about the pain medication naproxen (Aleve) for h…

    By: Joe Graedon September 3, 2015 5 Comments
    Cardiovascular Risks of Joint Replacement Surger…

    Persistent severe joint pain due to arthritis sometimes leads people to sign up for hip or knee replacement surgery. The thought here is that the "wear and tear" that years can put on the joints, toge…

    By: Terry Graedon October 1, 2014 9 Comments
    Acupuncture for Knee Pain

    Australian researchers report no lasting benefits from acupuncture for chronic knee pain. The study included 282 middle aged volunteers with osteoarthritis. They were randomized into four groups. One …

    By: Joe Graedon July 31, 2014 25 Comments
    Pineapple Juice Postpones Joint Pain

    Arthritis pain can be quite a challenge. Because it usually lasts for months or years, any medication that will be used must be super-safe for the long term. Few drugs meet that criterion, but some h…

    By: Terry Graedon July 28, 2014 1 Comments
    Senior Softball Players Rely on Gin-Soaked Raisi…

    Q. I played senior softball for 20 years. At many tournaments, our team might play several games a day, sometimes several in a row. Our bat bags were full of bandages, knee braces, bat gloves and yell…