Arthritis and Mineral Deficiency, Especially Boron

Arthritis can be a debilitating condition, it can range from being hardly able to get out of the bed to a niggling irritating pain in one or several of our joints. Could your arthritis be caused by mineral deficiency especially boron?

Rex Newnham PhD. and his experience with Boron

In the early 1960′s a man by the name of Rex Newnham PhD wrote a book called “Away with Arthritis” describing how boron can treat arthritis, there is a 2nd edition of this book printed in 1993. Doctor Newnham taught biology, soil science, agricultural botany, biology and chemistry in Perth, Australia.  After moving house in 1963 he developed arthritis.

Having a scientific background he researched for the possible cause of his arthritis, it seems he didn’t have it before he moved states so he suspected that the sandy soil in which he now lived in was deficient in some minerals especially boron. He had previously lived in an area where the soil was mostly clay.

As a result of his own research he decided to ingest borax which is a boron extract. He dosed himself with 30mg of borax, twice a day, to his delight his pain, stiffness and swelling had gone. He then stopped taking it and a year later his symptoms returned, they quickly disappeared after resuming his borax dose. (older people may take longer to benefit from this treatment).

Why isn’t Boron available as a medicine?

He passed his discovery on to many of his acquaintances, friends and relatives, they too soon found that their arthritis disappeared. In 1976 Dr. Newnham had some boron tablets manufactured and by the early 80′s he was selling 10,000 bottles each month. He approached a drug company marketing a common painkilling medication for arthritis, but as is common with the pharmaceutical companies they were only concerned with what they were to gain from manufacturing boron tablets, and as it turned out they didn’t see much of a profit in manufacturing Boron as a medicinal item, and at the same time ended up instigating a government law that boron be declared a poison in any concentration. As a result of this Dr. Newnham was fined and of course his boron tablets became a prohibited item on the market. Boron is indeed a toxic substance if taken in large quantities but then so are a lot of other pain medications, Cautions relating to Boron are at the bottom of the page..

Although my use of borax powder is totally unrelated to arthritis (I take it to help restore bone density -osteoporosis) I found after two weeks of taking boron that a niggling pain in both my thumb joints disappeared so that is a nice bonus, but I am hoping in time that my bone density will improve, I am keeping a check on it.

Rex Newnham’s Research on Boron

Dr. Newnham researched other areas of the world looking at arthritis incidence and soil content. He found that Israel has some of the best soil in the world and a high boron content. An independent survey in 1978-1980 at the Kaplan Hospital showed arthritis for the whole country to be less than 1%.

In New Zealand a number of spa pools are recommended as being beneficial for arthritis. They all have high boron readings. One motel at Ngawha has a collection of wheelchairs and crutches left behind by people no longer needing them when they leave.

New Zealands green lipped mussel extract that make claims in relieving arthritis was originally gathered from White Island, a volcanic island with vents under the sea. The mussels absorbed boron from the sea in this way and this was the secret to their success. Mussels gathered from other areas do not have the same effect as they lack the boron.

Some of the degenerative diseases that benefit from boron supplementation are:

• Osteoarthritis
• Juvenile Arthritis known as Still’s Disease
• Spondylitis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Pyorrhea
• Osteoporosis
• Gout

We can consider our bones as a mineral bank without our bones we wouldn’t survive, bones perform some very important functions in our body.  Minerals are deposited and are the matrix and strength of the the bone, if there is a shortage of a particular mineral in one part of our body, a withdrawal will occur from the bone to provide for the deficit.

Fluoride is also a contributor to arthritis. In many countries fluoride is added to our water so we can’t avoid it unless you purchase a filter that filters out chemicals in your water. Signs of too much fluoride is mottling of the teeth.  At the same time fluorosis of the skeletal bones occurs. Boron is the natural in-activator of fluoride. Our teeth are the only bones that we visibly see and what state your teeth are in may be a representation of your bone heath.

The use of Borax powder for arthritis is an extremely old remedy used by our predecessors, they would often lick the end of their fingertip, dip it into the borax and lick it of, it was known even then that borax helped get rid of pain in their joints.

In Western Australia one can obtain on a doctors script Osteopartite with boron – a Nutrisearch product that also contains other necessary minerals. Your doctor can obtain more information from Nutrawest Pty Ltd.