Scientists have known for a long time that autoimmune diseases operate by causing a person’s immune system to mistake its body’s own tissues as foreign, leading it to attack.
Conventional therapy has been to take dangerous immunosuppressive drugs to stop the immune system, but this causes a cascade of terrible side effects.
Now, scientists may have found the specific gene involved in arthritis diseases that attack joints and bone tissue, giving hope that more targeted treatment may be on the horizon.
Researchers at the University of Michigan recently were able to drill down past conventional theories regarding the genetic process that causes rheumatoid and other forms of arthritis.
Scientists have known that a certain gene group, called HLA (human leukocyte antigen) is the culprit in triggering the body’s immune system to mistakenly take joint and bone tissues as foreign. But until now, they never knew specifically which gene in the group was responsible.
Conventional treatment for autoimmune diseases involves suppressing the immune system’s function. However, this treatment is broad- and it causes the body to not be able to ward off many other diseases as a consequence. Diseases like colds, flu, bacterial infections, even cancer end up running unchecked.
But the University of Michigan scientists have discovered how one specific gene, called the shared epitope, actually triggers osteoclasts (which destroy bone) and other destructive proteins to launch their assaults.
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Fortunately, rheumatoid arthritis isn’t one of my problems, but it is for some of my wife’s family, so this could be great news. It will no doubt take awhile for medicine to catch up with science, but this boosts hope for many.
The Actipatch works fine for knee pain, without any drugs…
Cure-Q-Min all natural anti-inflammatoryremedy may provide relief. See http://www.mynsp.com/herbs4you
ARTHRITIS.
There can be few people if any who have not suffered from pain in their lower backs at some time in their lives. Back troubles are some of the most common complaints seen in a doctors office. In each year, about 2% of any general practioners patients consult him with backache.
Beverly had suffered intermittent mild to severe lower back pain for over 10 years. She told me that within a week of starting eating the way I recommended, she found that her pain had cleared up completely. She said; 'It only comes back when I have slipped of the wagon. I put it down to wheat, as my odd foray into chocolate land does'nt seem to bring it on.'
This case illustrates a simple case of cause and effect as, apart from studies of ancient people's, clinical trials have also shown that carbohydrates, particularlt cereals, in the diet may cause arthritis. They may also be responsible for other conditions.
Arthritis, a common plague of modern society, exists in two major forms;.
OSTEOARTHRITIS, which is caused by wear and tear and, consequently, is generally present only in the middle -aged or elderly; and.
RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, which may be present in all ages.
Osteoarthritis has been found in the most ancient skeletal remains of humans and animals. But evidence of rheumatoid arthritis has not been identified earlier than 2750BC, a time when consumption of cereal grains had become widespread.OSTEOARTHRITIS.
Osteoarthritis tends to accompany osteoporosis. Researchers at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit tested the hypothesis that women with arthritis had a lower bone density. They found a significant decrease in bone density in the legs of female patients with relatively mild osteoarthritis of the knee whether or not they had osteoporosis based on a spine bone density measurement. Osteoarthritis is known to be more prevalent in those who are obese. It's not surprising that joints protest at having to support a heavier body.
RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS.
Rheumatoid arthritis is never found in animal remains. Neither has it been found in the skeletal remains of corn eating peoples, such as Central American Indians. But it has been found to be present equally in all races and cultures eating wheat, rye and oats. This finding suggests that rheumatoid arthritis is a gluten-induced condition similiar to coeliac disease.
Today, arthritis and other rheumatic conditions are among the most prevalent diseases and the most frequent cause of disability. An American mortality and morbidity report published in 2001 estimated that some 43 million Americans had rheumatoid arthritis in 1997. This was up from 35 million in 1985 – an increase of nearly a quarter. All age groups were affected, including the working-age population, and prevalence increased with age. Prevalence was higher in females overall and for each age group. There is no reason to suppose that the situation is any different in Britain and other industrialized countries.
But in a survey of North American Indians in 1932, Dr Weston Price looked specifically for the prescence of arthritis in the more isolated groups. He found not one case, neither did he hear of a case. However, he said, 'at the point of contact with the foods of modern civilization many cases were found including ten bed-ridden cripples in a series of about twenty homes.' One five year old boy had been in bed with rheumatic fever, arthritis, and an acute heart involvement for two and a half years. His mother had been told that her boy would not recover, so severe were the complications.. She asked for Dr Price's assistance in planning a nutritional program for her boy. He tells us;.
'The important change that I made in this boy's dietary program was the removal of white flour products and in their stead the use of cracked or ground wheat and oats used with whole milk to which was added a small amount of specially high vitamin butter produced by cows pasturing on green wheat. Small doses of a high-vitamin, natural cod liver oil were also added. At this time the boy was so badly crippled with arthritis, in his swollen knees, wrists, and rigid spine, that he was bedfast and cried by the hour. With the improvement in his nutrition which was the only change made in his care, his acute pain rapidly subsided, his appetite greatly improved, he slept soundly and gained rapidly in weight.'
Rheumatoid arthritis is a complex auto-immune disease involving numerous environmental and genetic components, and similiar to a number of other auto-immune diseases found more often in coeliac patients.
Many studies of arthritis patients have demonstrated elevated antibody levels for gliadin (a protein found in gluten). While no large clinical tests have been undertaken specifically to examine the effectiveness of gluten-free diets in the treatment of arthritis, there are numerous case studies reporting alleviation of arthritis symptons with grain-free diets.
The other half of Dr Price's protocol – adding fat – is also supported by a recent study which showed that improving the ratio between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids by eating fish oils and other omega-3 rich oils is of benefit. It was not necessary to eat a lot however. The reported total intake of omega-3 fatty acids in the intervntion group was 3.1 grams per day, and of this, 1.2 grams were of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). That is just over half a teasponful in total. It is important not to overdo this.
It is also worth noting that cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality are increased in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and much of the excess cardiovascular morbidity appears to be due to atherosclerosis. This could be a pointer to a common causitive factor between the two diseases, although it could also be that conventional arthritis treatment increases cardiovascular risk.
VILHJALMUR STEFANSSON'S EXPERIENCE.
The anthropologist, Dr Vilhjalmur Stefansson, didn't always take his own advice. As an explorer, he had lived on a no-carb diet for many years and believed in it. However, from about 1927 to 1955 he ate a conventional western diet. Over time he put on weight – to a maximum of 184 lbs (83.6 kg) To manage his weight, Stefansson tried cutting down on calorie intake for some years but only lost 5 lbs. He also had noticed that he was developing a stiffness in one knee. This gradually worsened and, by the time he was 75, Stefansson also had increasing soreness in both his hips and shoulder joints. Eventually, in 1955, he decided to resort to the 'Stone Age' all-fat-meat diet that he had used on his Artic explorations. It worked. Not only did it lose his excess weight, the diet cured his arthritis. Stefansson's wife remarked;.
'As his knee stiffened, he began to go up and down stairs one step at a time.
One day, some months after the start of our meat diet, he found to his surprise.
that he could use both legs with equal facility in climbing the stairs. Astonished,
he proceeded down. When he had reached the foot of the stairs, without pain or.
stiffness, he shouted for me to come and see.'
STEFANSSON ADDED;
'I did indeed shout for Evelyn, because I had just discovered something that I had.
not forecast to her because I had not foreseen it. The recovery of not only my stiff.
right knee but of all my joints, blessedly my typing fingers, had been "magical." '.
Stefansson lived on his "Stone Age" diet until his death in 1962 at the age of 83, with no further problems with his joints.
One truly healthy aspect of a low-carb way ot eating is that it generally means cutting down on cereals such as bread and pasta. This has the advantage that reduction of cereals also reduces the amount of phytic acid consumed, without you having to do anything else. Many people give up bread altogether. This is'nt necessarybut, if you do eat bread, make it white bread. Although white bread will have lost some of its nutritional value, on balance it may be healthier than wholemeal bread because of the lack of phytates – and it does have that added calcium.
There may be a way under which bran is not harmful – but we have no ready way yo know what that limit is. Therefore, it is much safer for you to avoid bran than to try to guage what your safe limit might be. If you feel the need for fibre, there is an easier way: get your fibre from green leafy vegetables and don't eat bran, or wholemeal bread, or unfermented soy.
Taken from the book 'TRICK and TREAT, by a Barry Groves. (P. 367-370)
My daughter-in-law was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
I have just Started a treatment I saw on your website as a possible cure for arthritis. A teaspoon of honey one of cinnamon three times daily, I have this on a slice of bread .or in hot water (doesn’t work as well cinnamon doesn’t dissolve well in water. seems to be working fine so far; Pain in my knees is greatly reduced. Will let you know how it works.
Gordon
°
Just added a bone with a lot of fat & a little meat to the bowl on the stove . Sometimes my elders say , o that is so fat , are you going to eat that ? Yes , of course , I eat the fat first — ñam . How is » it « going ?