Quackery of Arthritis Information by MedicineNet.com

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Arthritis Quackery
(Unproven Remedies and Tests)

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Medical Author: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Like many people with chronic ailments, sufferers of chronic arthritis are potentially vulnerable to proponents of heavily marketed "cure-all" treatments. These "quick fix" treatments are promoted as having great benefits, but in reality have no right to such claims.

Quackery (the business of promoting unproven remedies) is recognized as a billion dollar industry. We feel the buyer should beware!

Consumers should be especially cautious when products come with marketing claims such as "will cure," "ancient remedy," "has no side effects," "revolutionary new scientific breakthrough."

The following remedies and tests have no scientific proof of benefits related to arthritis:

[Now you've heard it from Alfalfa to Zinc. Beware when you take care!]

Alfalfa	Lapachol
Aloe vera	Macrobiotic diet
Amino Acids	Ma-huang
Ant venom	Mandell arthritis diet
Arnica	Megavitamin therapy
Ascorbic acid	Natural and organic foods
Bark teas	Nightshade vegetables
Bee pollen	Ozone
Biotin	P vitamins
Bowel cleansing	PABA
Chinese herbs, such as Chuifong toukuwan (potentially dangerous)	Panax
Cinnamon	Pau d'arco
Clay enemas	Powdered ant
Clemantis	Propolis, royal jelly
Cloves	Raw milk
Cod Liver oil	Rhus toxicodendron
Coenzyme Q-10	Rose hips
Coffee enemas	Rutin
Coicis semen	Sassafras
Colonics	Selenium
Copper bracelets	Shark cartilage
Cytotoxic testing	Snake venom
Devil's Claw	Soapweed
Dismutase (superoxide dismutase)	Spanish bayonet
Dong diet	Spanish fly
Elimination diets	Stephania
Feverfew	Tang-kuei
Fit for Life diet	Teas (alfalfa, feverfew, ginseng, sassafras)
Fo-ti	Thiamine
Garlic	Vegetarian diets
Germanium	Volcanic ash fast
Ginseng	Water enema
Green-lipped mussel	Wood spider
Hair analysis	Yucca
Homeopathy	Zen macrobiotics
Hydrogen peroxide	Zinc
Kelp

Last Editorial Review: 11/21/2007

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Arthritis Quackery
(Unproven Remedies and Tests)

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