We can all be our own worst enemies. And arthritis sufferers seem to be especially prone to this. This can sometimes occur because we feel guilty for being slower and taking time for ourselves. After all, so many times you have to beg out of activities and social events because you are experiencing too much pain or you’re tired.

Here’s a fact: When ailments thump at our health, nobody knows the whole story. Our unique-to-a-fault and complicated-beyond-belief bodies are a mystery to all observers. But there’s good news: Our bodies know, and tell us via symptoms, what they need. Here’s a story that proves the point.

Arthritis and joint inflammation becomes many times the trigger point for other illness. As arthritis takes hold of the body joints become swollen and painful and at the same time movements become more difficult. Lack of movement not only increases weight it can increase cholesterol levels and blood pressure plus many more. There is no such thing as a magic cure or medication for arthritis. The best results so far been change of diet and lifestyle.

If you pay attention to the latest health findings, you already know that an inactive lifestyle and low fitness, two traits that characterize many people with arthritis, increase a person’s chances of developing several potentially fatal chronic disease, including coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and possibly strokes and cancer. As you may also know, coronary artery disease, which causes heart attacks, is the leading killer in the United States and most other industrialized nations.

More than 50 million Americans suffer from some form of arthritis. Many feel pain daily but choose not to use drugs. Yoga offers an alternative way to address this malady of the joints.