“For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who do not have, even what they have will be taken away.Matthew 13:12

When it comes to health, the last part, “but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away,” is painfully true. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 51 percent of adults with diabetes also have arthritis, 55 percent of adults with heart disease also have arthritis, 48 ​​percent of adults with high blood pressure also have arthritis, and 45 percent of adults with high cholesterol also have arthritis.

Once one thing like one aspect of our health goes wrong, many other aspects often follow. So if it’s you, what can you do? How to become one of those “who have” and to whom “more will be given”?

The answer is to take small steps to improve your health. Every little step makes you someone who has and someone who will be given more.

Seven sensible steps for the effective treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

1. If you have rheumatoid arthritis, take your joints through their full range of motion every day. That helps you maintain the mobility you still have and, over time, expand your mobility.

2. Working within your daily and moment-to-moment limits, do what you can to increase your muscle strength, which will also help protect your joints and allow you to exercise more. If your mobility is limited, you can start with isotonic exercises that you can do sitting or lying down.

3. Especially if you are already weak, you may need to do simple weight lifting at home. Miriam Nelson’s book Strong Women Stay Young offers an excellent home program for men and women that works wonders for even the frailest in nursing homes. A weight lifting program at home can often make a big difference in your ability to walk and then enjoy other exercises. And if it is still relatively strong, it will also get stronger and be able to function better.

4. If you are overweight, lose weight. Even losing just 10 pounds can significantly decrease joint pain. Losing weight and eating a healthy diet can also dramatically reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, helping to stop and even reverse a downward spiral in your health.

5. If you experience inflammation (all people with active arthritis have inflammation), have a blood test capable of detecting all type IV or delayed-sensitivity immune system reactions. This will identify dietary and environmental triggers. Type IV immune system reactions are the type of immune system reactions behind chronic inflammation. Classic food sensitivity tests, such as the skin scratch test, detect a type I immune system reaction, which is not related to arthritis. Antibody tests (often called Eliza tests) detect some type IV immune system reactions and miss others. The specific foods and chemicals that trigger inflammation vary from person to person and can vary over time even for the same person. That’s why it’s important that you get an individual test of what you’re reacting to now, not sometime in the past. That’s also why you can’t trust the list of other arthritis triggers. You are unique. You must know and eliminate your unique triggers, the ones that are operational at the moment.

6. If you have a good relationship with your family, treasure it and strengthen it. If you don’t, do what you can to heal those relationships or create supportive ones. Healthy relationships support physical health. For example, The American Pain Associated recently published a study showing (unsurprisingly) that strong marriages improve the functioning of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

7. Find a spiritual practice that appeals to you and make time for it in your life. The greatest spiritual teachers are the greatest healers. For example, the Buddha is called the Great Physician. Jesus is known for healing him. Each spiritual tradition comes with its own healing tradition.