Medical breakthroughs: take the sting out of arthritis and the risk out of long flights. Plus, should you change antibiotics?

Natural Health, March, 2005 by Rachel Dowd

fly clot-free

Wearing support stockings--or taking a supplement made from tree bark--lowers the chances of travel-related clots in the legs. In a recent study at Chieti University in Italy, some subjects at risk for deep-vein thrombosis were fitted with below-the-knee stockings before embarking on 8- to 13-hour flights. The researchers found blood clots in 4.6 percent of a sockless control group, but in only 1.1 percent of the stockinged flyers.

Also, a study in the journal Clinical Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis found that pycnogenol (derived from a maritime pine bark) prevented blood clots in moderate- and high-risk flyers who took 200 milligrams before, 200 mg during, and 100 mg one day after a long flight.

a popular antibiotic

may increase the risk of cardiac arrest, according to a report in The New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers found that subjects taking erythromycin doubled their chances of dying from sudden cardiac death. The risk of cardiac arrest was five times higher when erythromycin was taken with drugs that boost its concentration, such as anti-fungal agents, anti-depressants, and calcium-channel blockers. People taking amoxicillin, a comparable antibiotic, showed no increased risk.

illustrations by Jennifer Playford

What's the buzz?

bee venom

bee venom may be the next big treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. South Korean researchers found that melittin, the major ingredient in bee venom, dramatically reduced tissue swelling and abnormal bone formation in animals with RA, according to a study published in Arthritis & Rheumatism. When melittin was tested on a sample of joint cells from human arthritis patients, it blocked genes that are responsible for inflammation. Honeybee products, such as pollen, honey, and venom, have been used since ancient times to reduce swelling, heal sores, and quash pain.