Case Study Analysis: The Role of Complementary Medicine in RA Relief

This case study explores the experiences of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who sought complementary medicine after facing limited success with conventional treatments. It examines the role of uncertainty in the patient's decision-making, the potential benefits of various alternative therapies such as exercise, physical therapy, mind-body techniques, and herbal remedies, and the concept of powerlessness experienced by the patient due to her condition and lack of adequate support. The study also suggests strategies for healthcare professionals to provide comprehensive support and guidance, including the integration of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) with natural alternative medications to improve the patient's quality of life. Desklib provides access to similar case studies and resources for students.

Running head: COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Answer 1:
Uncertainty can be defined as the ability that helps to determine the real meaning of the different
types of illness related events and are mainly seen to occur when the decision maker become
unable to assign effective as well as definite values to different events or objects or when she
becomes unable to predict outcomes accurately (Bannuru et al., 2015). In this case-study, it is
seen that starting from the time when she was affected by the disorder of rheumatoid arthritis in
the age of 18, she had gone through many treatments and consultations where the treatment did
not result in effective outcomes. Moreover, the professionals also seemed confused with their
approach and stated the patient to be contented with the treatment as this was the best that the
interventions can offer. However, she suffered from poor quality life with the symptoms
worsening over the years. However, this situation can be considered as an opportunity because of
a number of reasons. Mishel has stated “we can see an uncertainty as opportunity, strategies to
maintain uncertainty are initiated. When the coping strategies are effective, adaptation occurs.
Mishel after facing many disappointments through her allopathic treatments tried to take chances
with a new form of medication with the hope that it would cure her health. Moreover, in the
initial phases also, she tried her best to cope with the situation by taking leaves from her
organization as well as from her studies in order to develop the quality of life. Therefore, these
uncertainties helped her to find out new ideas for revaluating her lives and establish priorities.
Answer 2:
A search on Google was conducted and it was found that exercise is one of the ways by which
one can reduce the pain of the arthritis. Moreover, physical therapy with the use of heat, ice,
range-of-motion exercises, transcutaneous electrical stimulation, gentle strengthening moves and

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many others can be used effectively for treatment of arthritis relieving the pain. Occupational
therapy helps in identifying the different problematic areas of the patient’s life and thereby plans
effective ways to eliminate them and develop independency. Moreover, proper mind-body
therapies as well as counseling are extremely helpful for the patients suffering from the disorder.
Fish oil capsules are also found to be extremely important for effective management of the pain
and to relieve patients from inflammation (Hazelwood et al., 2016). Hot and cold treatments as
well as acupuncture are debatable yet have proved to bring out successful result in many of the
studies. Massage and rest are also stated to be procedures that help patients in relieving from
pain.
Answer 3:
Marino et al. (2015) has put forward therapeutic strategies that help in counteracting the
rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and progress. They are of the opinion that natural products with
the proven roles of the of the anti-oxidant and the anti-inflammatory actions like that of (−)-
epigallocatechin gallate, resveratrol, oleuropein, quercetin and the flavonoid fractions of the
bergamot juice has been found to bring out the positive results on the patients and their
sufferings. Many of the researchers like Moudgil and Berman (2014) had also talked about the
efficacy of Chinese medication in this disorder treatment with special reference to acupuncture
and use of herbal products in the treatment. The mechanisms that underline the different
mechanisms of the immunomodulatory as well as anti-arthritis activities have been discussed,
however, the researchers believe that more randomized trials are required to establish it as
effective treatment opportunity. Moreover, Farzaei et al. (2016) has talked about the traditional
use of the medicinal Persian plants in the effective treatment of the disorder. Cellular mechanism
that include downregulation of pro‐inflammatory cytokines such as TNF‐α, IL‐6 and NF‐κB,

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enhancement of antioxidant performance, suppression of oxidative stress and inhibition of
cartilage degradation with destructive metalloproteinases ensure effective treatment of RA.
Answer 4:
Powerlessness can be defined as the situation when an individual becomes unable to control the
environment and the environment is seen to control the patient in its place. In this context,
powerless can be attributed to the situation when the patient got affected due to the disorder at a
very young and tender age when she was learning to step into adulthood and had to develop an
independent method of living. This age was therefore one of the factor for her powerlessness.
Another important factor was that at that time she had just relocated from rural areas to that of
the urban areas and was not familiar with the new environment and the lifestyle. Moreover, she
had no family and relatives around that made her feel helpless in the new areas. This made her
go back to her rural region in order to cope with the new disorder (Koenders et al. 2015).
Moreover, her family members were not educated enough about healthcare and so they could not
help her in this situation. Moreover, the professionals had not educated her about the disorder,
the causes, prognosis as well as the potential side effects of medications. Therefore, it created an
anxiety among the patient, as she was not being able to understand what was happening with her
and how she could stop it. Such powerlessness affects the quality of lives of patients.
Answer 5:
Some of the strategies that the healthcare team members should provide is to be a
constant support to the couple in their hard times and provide them guidance throughout their
treatment procedures. The professionals should understand that the patient is not well educated
and suffering from anxiety about her situation. She is feeling powerless and desperately trying

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out to develop solution for her health. In such situation, being of constant support and helping
them to take the correct decision after describing the rationale is one of the main actions that the
professionals should take. disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs called the DMARDs are
proposed by modern day researchers a d they can be used to help the patient overcome her pain
and poor quality life. The third point may be effective combination of the natural alternative
medication like, medicinal plants, acupuncture and physical therapies along with the use of
DMARDs can also be applied (Smolen et al. 2015).

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References:
Bannuru, R. R., McAlindon, T. E., Sullivan, M. C., Wong, J. B., Kent, D. M., & Schmid, C. H.
(2015). Effectiveness and implications of alternative placebo treatments: a systematic
review and network meta-analysis of osteoarthritis trials. Annals of internal
medicine, 163(5), 365-372.
Farzaei, M. H., Farzaei, F., Abdollahi, M., Abbasabadi, Z., Abdolghaffari, A. H., & Mehraban,
B. (2016). A mechanistic review on medicinal plants used for rheumatoid arthritis in
traditional Persian medicine. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 68(10), 1233-
1248.
Hazlewood, G. S., Barnabe, C., Tomlinson, G., Marshall, D., Devoe, D., & Bombardier, C.
(2016). Methotrexate monotherapy and methotrexate combination therapy with
traditional and biologic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs for rheumatoid arthritis:
abridged Cochrane systematic review and network meta-analysis. bmj, 353, i1777.
Koenders, M. I., & van den Berg, W. B. (2015). Novel therapeutic targets in rheumatoid
arthritis. Trends in pharmacological sciences, 36(4), 189-195.
Marino, A., Paterniti, I., Cordaro, M., Morabito, R., Campolo, M., Navarra, M., ... & Cuzzocrea,
S. (2015). Role of natural antioxidants and potential use of bergamot in treating
rheumatoid arthritis. PharmaNutrition, 3(2), 53-59.
Moudgil, K. D., & Berman, B. M. (2014). Traditional Chinese medicine: potential for clinical
treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

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Smolen, J. S., & Aletaha, D. (2015). Rheumatoid arthritis therapy reappraisal: strategies,
opportunities and challenges. Nature Reviews Rheumatology, 11(5), 276.