There’s an easy way to ease the constant pain of rheumatoid arthritis. It’s free, requires no visits to the doctor, and can be done just about anywhere.

All you have to do is get yourself moving again — but the latest research shows that four in 10 rheumatoid patients are almost completely inactive.

This isn’t by some exaggerated self-reported measurement, either. In this study, 176 RA patients wore accelerometers to measure their activity — and 42 percent of them never got even 10 minutes of sustained movement over an entire week.

Many of them said they didn’t move because they didn’t believe it would help… while others told researchers they just didn’t feel motivated.

Here’s some motivation that I hope will make a believer out of you: Moderate activity — and we’re not talking about pumping iron or training for a marathon, mind you — has proven time and again to help ease the pain of rheumatoid.

Now, I get why so many sufferers won’t try it — and if you’re among them, I can hear you shouting at the computer right now: “It hurts too much to move!!!!”

I get it.

But believe it or not, once you start moving that pain often goes away and then some — and it’s perfectly OK to keep it light, because even simple stretching exercises can bring real relief.

One study found that tai chi — the slow Chinese movements often practiced in parks in the morning — can decrease pain, increase function and give RA patients the confidence they need to keep moving.

Another study conducted by Johns Hopkins found that eight weeks of yoga can decrease swelling and tenderness in the joints of rheumatoid patients.

And if yoga and tai chi aren’t your thing, you can try any number of activities — from a brisk daily walk through your local park to gardening. Just pick something you enjoy and keep at it.

But while getting more movement can help ease the pain of RA, it won’t cure it. RA is an autoimmune disorder — and the only way to stop or reverse it is to find out why your immune system is attacking itself.

In many cases, it’s a food allergy — and simply finding the foods that trigger your arthritis and learning to avoid them can end the pain for good. A naturopathic physician can help you with that.

Dr. Jonathan Wright has also found that many RA patients suffer from low levels of hydrochloric acid and pepsin in the stomach. To find out how to check your levels — and boost them if you’re running low — read his free report on the unexpected culprits behind rheumatoid arthritis.

It’s just about the slowest and easiest form of exercise on the planet — but what tai chi lacks in flash, it more than makes up for in benefits.

These simple Chinese stretching exercises have been shown to help seniors beat everything from pain to depression — and now, new research shows that they can also help improve balance and prevent falls.

Falls are a leading cause of loss of independence in seniors. The breaks and fractures often require long and even permanent hospitalization — and with the rise of hospital-acquired infections, any admission for any reason has the potential to be your last.

But if the new study is any indication, you can dramatically lower your risk of a life-changing or life-ending fall through tai chi.

In the new study, researchers assigned 70 seniors from assisted-living homes to either four months of tai chi or musical instruction.

Music is nice — but those who went to the 90-minute tai chi classes three times a week learned critical skills such as weight shifting, awareness of body alignment, and the rotation of the head and trunk.

As a result, the study in Age and Ageing found that these seniors had significant improvements in their ability to balance and the awareness of the position of their limbs than those who learned music.

And if boosting your balance and slashing your risk of a fall aren’t enough, that’s not all tai chi can do for you.

Studies have found that these slow stretches can help bring relief from arthritis and osteoarthritis, boost overall physical function, beat depression, and even improve your quality life.

Along with being easy, tai chi is cheap or even free. There may be a group practicing tai chi in your local park, library, or senior center.

And if you can’t find one near you, you’re only a mouse click away from some free lessons — search YouTube for “tai chi” for some simple exercises you can do right now, in front of your computer.

A small army of seniors already swears by chondroitin for arthritis relief — and the latest research shows they’re not swearing in vain.

The new study confirms that chondroitin can beat pain, ease stiffness, and even restore function to patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the hands.

Researchers gave 162 patients suffering from radiographic hand osteoarthritis either 800 mg of chondroitin sulfate or a placebo every day. After six months, those who took the real supplement enjoyed a dramatic reduction in hand pain (nearly 9 points on a visual analogue scale).

The visual analogue scale is a 100-point scale where patients estimate their pain levels. Since most of them started around 40, a nine-point drop is an improvement of nearly 25 percent.

They also saw improvements in morning hand stiffness, grip strength, and overall function.

As good as chondroitin is, it’s even better when you pair it with glucosamine.

Glucosamine and chondroitin together can actually restore cartilage to your joints and repair the damage caused by years of osteoarthritis.

For an added boost, add some gentle movement exercises to your routine. Yoga, for example, has been shown to ease pain and restore function in patients who suffer from hand osteoarthritis. And Tai chi, the slow and graceful martial art, has shown to help combat osteoarthritis of the knees.

Put that together with the arthritis-battling duo of glucosamine and chondroitin, and you have yourself a winner.

If you tell your doctor you’re having trouble sleeping, the first thing he’ll do is reach for his prescription pad — especially if you’re a woman going through menopause.

Feel free to visit the drugstore — but don’t head for the pharmacy, and don’t fill that prescription.

Make a beeline for the supplements aisle instead, and reach for an inexpensive remedy that’s been used for centuries by men and women alike to help ease anxiety and get better rest.

It’s valerian root — and a new clinical trial finds that it can help beat the sleep problems that often accompany menopause.

Iranian researchers randomly assigned 100 women to either 530 milligrams of valerian root twice a day, or a placebo, for a month and found that 30 percent of the women who got the supplement had better sleep.

Thirty percent may not sound impressive — but it’s a dramatic improvement compared to the 4 percent of women on the placebo who reported relief.

What’s more, the women who took the supplement reported no side effects — unlike the sleep meds that can not only leave you groggy in the morning, but can also cause addiction as well as bizarre and often dangerous behavior.

If valerian doesn’t work for you, there’s still no reason to fill that prescription: Other studies have found that yoga, tai chi, acupressure, and cognitive behavioral therapy can all help men and women alike overcome sleep problems.

In some cases, you may need to experiment a little until you find a natural treatment that works best for you. In others, you may need to combine two or more.

For more tips on how to get better sleep – whether you’re a man or woman of any age – explore the Web site of the Health Sciences Institute. Enter “sleep” into the “find a cure” box and then find a comfortable spot to finally get the rest you need.