Copper and Arthritis

Update March 2010 - These pages are being updated, they will be filled with detailed research material, so please check again in April

The treatment using copper bracelets for arthritis has a long history, and wearers continue to claim positive results. Copper is known to have a mild anti-inflammatory effect.

Copper creates an essential enzyme for the regeneration of cartilage and bone. It also flushes destructive radicals from body tissues, known as superoxide radicals.

When in contact with human skin, copper ornaments often create green films on the flesh. This film can be easily washed off with soap and water. These chelates, formed by the interelation of copper alloy and human sweat, are noted to have many healing qualities once absorbed by the skin. "Copper chelates are the next progressive step towards relieving the symptoms of rheumatism and arthritis," states a Medical Journal from 1972.

Medical debate regarding the usefulness of copper in treating illness is fierce. Many people still use copper bracelets for arthritis, to reduce inflammation and pain.

Experiments contrasting copper bracelets and aluminum bracelets on arithmetic patients show that copper reduces swelling in joints under all atmospheric conditions. Other experiments indicate that bones heal more quickly when exposed to copper salts.

Copper aspirinate has been shown not only to be more effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis than aspirin alone, but it has been shown to prevent or even cure the ulceration of the stomach often associated with aspirin therapy. More than 140 copper complexes of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (aspirin and ibuprofen, for example) have been shown to be more active than their parent compounds. It has been demonstrated that copper complexes such as copper aspirinate and copper tryptophanate, markedly increase healing rate of ulcers and wounds. For example, copper complexes heal gastric ulcers five days sooner than other reagents. Further, it has been shown that, whereas non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and enefenamic acid suppress wound healing, copper complexes of these drugs promote normal wound healing while at the same time retaining anti-inflammatory activity.



In 1939, the German physician, Werner Hangarter, noticed that Finnish copper miners were unaffected by arthritis as long as they worked in the mining industry. This observation led Finnish medical researchers plus the Germans, Hangarter and Lübke, to successfully use a mixture of copper chloride and sodium salicylate to treat patients suffering from rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arthritis, neck and back problems, and sciatica. Interestingly, Pliny (23 - 79 A.C.E.) also mentions using copper for just this purpose.




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