September is "National Arthritis Awareness Month" and, in order to participate I'd like to add my two cents worth in order to stimulate the discussion. Arthritis is a vast category covering a dozen or so disorders, the most common of which are rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatism and gout.

Generally, arthritis is defined as an inflammatory joint lesion. Its causes can be infectious (infectious arthritis), rheumatic and autoimmune (rheumatoid arthritis) or metabolic (gout).

Now arthritis is no laughing matter, the pain can be debilitating and, in more evolved cases it will significantly reduce the quality of life. Unfortunately, the conventional medical approach just focuses on eliminating the symptoms - inflammation - without working on the cause of the problem. Of course, this does aleviate much of the pain, however, it does not address the cause of the problem.

From a naturopathic perspective, we know that aside from normal wear and tear, arthritis is caused by a diet that is too acidifying or inflammatory, or by nutritional deficiencies. Let's face it, if you're eating foods that increase inflammation and not giving your body what it needs to repair the joints, you're "programming" yourself for arthritis. So, the approach is to eliminate the cause rather than just eliminate the effect - the inflammation.

There are many things you can do from a dietary and lifestyle perspective to prevent or reverse arthritis naturally, by addressing the causes of the problem. Do a search on our website for "arthritis" and find time proven, effective and safe ways to prevent arthritis or, if it is present, to reverse this debilitating disease.

You can read my article "Arthritis: Natural Approach"