JUNE 2009 - Nutrition & Arthritis

Arthritis means joint inflammation. There are several kinds of Arthritis. The most common is Osteoarthritis (aka DJD). Other, more serious, varieties include Rheumatoid, Psoriatic and Infectious arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Reiter's Syndrome and Gout.

American medical doctors lead the world in emergency and trauma care, many kinds of surgery and infectious disease control. Yet, many lag behind the rest of the world in treatment for arthritis. Traditional medical therapies include non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), muscle relaxers, and occasional steroid injections for temporary pain relief.

More recently COX-2 inhibitors such as Bextra, Viox and Celebrex were promoted as more effective pain relievers with fewer side effects. Bextra and Viox have been taken off the market due to increased incidence of heart attack, stroke and liver damage. Celebrex, while still on the market, admits to an increased risk of death in its ads.

The newest round of therapy involves drugs that suppress the immune system such as methotrexate, azathioprine, and cyclosporine. While helpful with symptom relief, these drugs involve increased risk of infection and cancer. Since none of these drug therapies actually reverse the progression of the disease, eventual joint replacement is often indicated in more serious cases.

To summarize, the common belief among many American medical doctors is that arthritis is a progressive, irreversible disease. A 40% reduction in pain and stiffness is the best a patient can expect while enduring potentially serious side effects from drugs.

But wait! European medical doctors and alternative docs in the U.S. are getting much better results and actually reverse joint damage in many cases with nutrition-based therapy. They simply cleanse the digestive tract and then eliminate all processed food for at least six weeks.

Miracle cures often follow. Thankfully, there are a few enlightened medical doctors in this country helping to lead us out of the wilderness of ignorance.

I would call to attention the works of David Brownstein, M.D. and Lynn August, M.D.

Dr. August has been a leader in nutritional healing for over 35 years. She provides many case studies in which food and nutritional supplements promote amazing improvement in patient suffering from arthritic and other inflammatory illnesses.

Dr. Brownstein has the most comprehensive protocols for arthritis I have seen. He acknowledges early research findings that link arthritic disorders to infection by mycoplasma organisms. He provides case studies that show successful treatment with antibiotics and offers historical insight on how this successful method fell out of favor as the patents on these antibiotics expired and newer patents on cortisone and later NSAIDs provided a greater profit margin for drug companies.

Dr. Brownstein recommends the use of small doses of natural hormones that have the same chemical structure as the bodies' own hormones to treat arthritis and other chronic illness. This treatment counters the decline of hormone levels that happen as we age.

Dehydration due to inadequate water intake, excess coffee, soda, or alcohol, and diuretic medications will raise histamine levels in the body. Histamine is an important water regulating agent in the body. When levels get too high they can harm the immune system. Arthritis, allergies, Lupus, Crohn's disease and cancer are diseases of a damaged immune system.

Food allergies or sensitivities can trigger arthritis pain in many patients. In our practice we use Peter D'Amotos' charts on eating foods compatible with the patients blood type. Since body chemistry can vary even within blood types, we use applied kinesiology to individualize each patient’s treatment. This technique is invaluable for treating allergy and toxicity cases as well as chronic degenerative illness.

Due to poor quality of much of the American food supply, it is very difficult to obtain nutrients we need to ward off illness and repair damaged body parts. Those who garden and raise their own healthy meat will do better than most but, if you think all you need is 10-4-4 to raise nutritious food, you are sadly uninformed.

You must build healthy soil with natural fertilizers to get the nutrients the body needs. I recommend that most patients take a high potency vitamin and mineral compound. Niacin (Vitamin B3) has been shown to be extremely effective for arthritis suffers. Vitamins A,C,D, and E are also helpful as are the minerals magnesium, calcium, selenium, zinc, and copper.

A quality multi-vitamin often supplies enough of all of these, but extra niacin is often indicated for arthritis. Glucosamine and Chondroiten Sulfate are useful for many arthritics and can actually heal damaged joints. In my experience it works well for about 70% of arthritis patients. Research has shown that ginger and feverfew are helpful herbs for reducing arthritis symptoms.

I should mention that gout is a special case caused by uric acid crystals in the blood. We have helped every case we have seen at our office with natural supplements such as folic acid and Noni juice, but remember, everyone’s body chemistry is unique. What works well for Jack may be useless for Jane.

Some patients are so toxic from bad food, chemical or heavy metal exposure that they must detoxify first before nutritional healing can take place. Truly, treating the cause of arthritis (infection, poor nutrition, chemical or heavy metal toxicity, dehydration) is the key to overcoming the illness.