Use of Animal and Animal Products for Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment: An Explorative Study in Odisha, India

Abstract

Severe fatigue, pain, deformity, and disability, are the major concerns for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The extreme pain experienced by the patients often force them to experiment with various indigenous substances including animals and animal products. However, there is little evidence on the use of animals or animal products as traditional medicine in RA. Hence, this study was aimed to explore the experience and perception of patients toward the use of animals and animal products for the treatment of RA. A qualitative, explorative study was conducted at the outpatient department of Rheumatology of a tertiary care medical college and hospital at Cuttack, Odisha, India. Out of 113 patients with RA, 18 patients gave history of use of animal and/or animal products and were selected for in-depth interviews. The content analysis methods were used for data analysis. Four major categories emerged: (1) prevailing patterns of traditional treatment of RA using animals, (2) beliefs and values behind the traditional treatment of RA, (3) sources and traditional learning pathway of indigenous practices on RA, and (4) ethical aspects of the indigenous practice of using animals and/or animal products in the treatment of RA. This study revealed the practice of eating dead animals to get relief from RA. However, there was hardly any perceived positive outcome of the practice; which indicates the lack of awareness of rational, scientific, treatment, and prevalence of irrational and unethical practices for the treatment of RA. Hence, community awareness, social mobilization, and newer screening tools are necessary to improve the timely detection and prevention of irrational treatment practices among RA patients.

Traditional Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…Herbal treatments, homoeopathy ingredients, and various animal products are among the products available. Massage therapies, acupressure, acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, electrical stimulation, laser therapy, and mind-body therapies are among the indigenous treatment methods [7,14,17,24,26,30,31]. Many different types of physical activity are generally used and encouraged.…”

“…Traditional RA treatment includes the use of plant products or herbal remedies [22,32,33], animals or animal products [14,22,32,[34][35][36][37], and the application of alternative therapies [2,7,22,32,38,39]. Traditional approaches to RA treatments include herbs/juices, spiritual practices, topical applications, movement-based therapies, and practitioner-based modalities [32].…”

“…Patients used heat and physical therapies, supplementation, traditional medicines, and prayer to get relief from RA [27,28]. It was also observed that patients would sometimes practice hot compression by applying mustard oil to the affected areas [14]. The various applications of traditional alternative therapies for RA are provided in Table 3.…”

“…The various applications of traditional alternative therapies for RA are provided in Table 3. Traditional healers have given powders or ash to RA patients on occasion [14]. According to a study conducted in the United States of America, 70% of patients never mention traditional treatments to their physicians, which is regarded as an invisible mainstreaming of alternative care [21,22].…”

“…Nonetheless, despite greater recognition of the benefits of timely treatment, there is always a delay in obtaining treatment from appropriate healthcare providers among patients [11]. The delays in diagnosis and referral to a tertiary health care facility or specialist, such as a rheumatologist, causes worsening disease conditions and complicating care-seeking pathways [12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”