'Lansley must listen to nurses on the front line' Complementary therapies 'not effective for rheumatoid arthritis'
Most complementary therapies used by people with rheumatoid arthritis are not effective, a study has found.
The Arthritis Research Campaign looked at scientific evidence available for different therapies and medicines and found 13 out of 21 complementary medicines for rheumatoid arthritis were not effective.
A total of 60% of people with the condition said they turn to various treatments to ease the widespread muscle pain, but of the treatments tested fish oil, which is derived from the tissues of fatty fish like sardines, was found to be most effective.
According to the study, fish oils were also given a ‘green light’ for safety.
People with similar conditions such as osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia also said they used various therapies to treat the conditions.
However, for people with osteoarthritis, the therapies fared better, with only six out of 27 (22%) proving to be ineffective.
A therapy called phytodolor and the nutritional supplement S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe), both received high marks for effectiveness. However, Capsaicin gel, which is made from chilli peppers, proved the most effective, scoring full marks.
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