The term ‘rheumatoid’ originates from the Greek ‘rheuma’, which means a cold, damp condition. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, meaning that the body is turning against its own immune system.
No one really knows how it is triggered, although there is a strong genetic link. It is generally believed that a bacterial or viral infection may change the nature of the synovial membrane lining the joints so that it becomes ‘foreign’ to the immune system, which then attacks it. The synovial membrane develops all the characteristics of severe inflammation: swelling, redness, heat, pain and loss of function or stiffness. The inflammation may reach the underlying cartilage and even the bone, causing erosion and making the affected joint stiff and deformed. The slightest movement will be severely painful and cause a crunching sound as bone grinds against bone.
Several joints are usually affected – fingers, shoulders, hips, knees and, even ankles – although nor every joint will hurt at the same time. One day the knee will hurt, next day the shoulder. This is often called ‘flying pain’ because it appears to fly from one joint to another. Characteristic changes in the blood are raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and raised rheumatoid factor (RF). The ESR indicates that the blood is less viscous. The RF detects the presence of a certain protein. However, this protein is not present in all sufferers, a$ in your case which explains the phrase ‘seronegative’. Conversely, even healthy people can have a positive RF. However, although it’s not diagnostic, this test can indicate the severity of the condition in sufferers.
Conventional medicine uses painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids and other drugs that suppress the immune system. Since no one really knows what causes rheumatoid arthritis, or how it develops, these treatments are highly speculative. Under these circumstances, I would suggest you give nature a chance and to your body unlock the process that started the attack on your healthy joints.
One of the most effective treatments I have seen is Panchakarma used in Ayurveda (the traditional medicine of India). Patients are prescribed a strict vegetarian diet for up to a month. Herbs are boiled in oil and this hot medicated oil is applied via poultices and massaged all over the body, particularly the joints. Once the oil has soaked into the skin, it is scraped off with bare hands. Herbal oils are also used as enemas and nasal douches, and gentle exercise is prescribed. It is believed that the oil absorbs the toxins in the body so that they are removed. After several sessions, the inflammation of the joints often subsides permanently.
Here are my suggestions and cures for rheumatoid arthritis:
- Avoid citrus fruit, red meat, shellfish, fried food, spicy food, canned products, coffee, excess salt and sugar, cheese, mushrooms, vinegar, foods containing yeast (such as bread and pizza) and alcohol.
- Make chicken broth by boiling a chopped up poussin in six pints of water for 90 minutes, then straining.
- Make fresh juice from carrots, apples and peeled ginger.
- Stir-fry cod roe, which has oils that help joints, and eat oily fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines.
- Chop up a clove of garlic and swallow with water daily for two months.
- Take half a teaspoonful of turmeric mixed with one cup of warm milk and one teaspoonful of manuka honey, twice daily for two months.
- Take Alkamine coral calcium: soak two sachets in 1.5 litres of still filtered water and drink throughout the day.
- Take Haldi tablet: one twice a day for three months.
- Take Eskimo-3 fish oil : one twice a day for three months.
- Take Vega Collagen Complex: one a day for three months.
- Massage your neck and spine (or ask a friend to do it) three times a week for two months. Massage the affected joints at bedtime for two months. Use Dr Ali’s Joint Oil or Weleda Massage Balm.
