January 11, 2011

As a systemic illness, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can affect more than one part of the body. That is why people with RA often have symptoms that are seemingly unrelated to joint stiffness or swelling. They may be experiencing generalized fatigue, for example, or they may notice a decrease in appetite or run a low-grade fever.
Symptoms or changes occurring outside the joints are called extra-articular features of RA. Some extra-articular features, such as those mentioned above, are very common and cause only minor discomfort or inconvenience; others, such as swollen lymph nodes (an indication that inflammation is affecting other parts of the body), are less common; and still others are extremely rare and frequently serious. It is worth emphasizing that less than 5 percent of people with RA develop the most serious consequences of RA.

How Does RA Affect the Blood?
The blood disorder, which affects between one half and two thirds of all individuals with RA, is the condition that results when the number of red blood cells decreases notably. Anemia may develop as one of the consequences of long-standing inflammation, and its severity often reflects the activity of the arthritis. Called the anemia of chronic disease, this type of anemia usually improves when the arthritis is brought under control. In some situations, the drug erythropoietin can be administered intravenously to increase red blood cell production temporarily. This medication can be used in a pre-surgical situation when an individual wants to donate his own blood for a scheduled surgery.
Another kind of anemia, called iron deficiency anemia, may develop as a side effect of taking anti-inflammatory drugs, which can irritate the stomach lining and cause minor (or, rarely, major) loss of blood. Anyone who develops iron deficiency anemia needs to be evaluated to determine whether he or she is losing blood from the stomach. This may mean examining the stool for blood or investigating the stomach using other techniques (an endoscopy or upper gastrointestinal series). It may be necessary to discontinue non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) therapy and to begin a course of stomach-healing medication.
Anemia may also develop as a component of an unusual complication of RA known as Felty’s syndrome. This syndrome occurs in fewer than one of one hundred people who have long-standing RA. In addition to anemia and arthritis, people with Felty’s syndrome develop an enlarged spleen and a decreased white blood cell count. A low white blood cell count means a reduction in the body’s ability to fight infection and therefore means that infection is more likely to occur. Another complication of this syndrome is a decrease in the number of platelets in the blood, the blood cells involved in clotting. A low platelet count can be dangerous because it carries the risk of excessive bleeding. Skin ulcerations and dark patches of skin are two other effects of Felty’s syndrome.
Treatment for Felty’s syndrome generally involves use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Occasionally, however, when medication proves ineffective and the person with Felty’s syndrome experiences recurrent infections, the person’s spleen must be removed surgically.
As noted above, individuals with RA do, rarely, develop a low platelet count (thrombocytopenia) as a result of Felty’s syndrome. On the other hand, people with RA often have a high platelet count {thrombocytosis), a condition that is generally harmless and resolves with treatment of the arthritis.
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April 29, 2009

Because the underlying causes of arthritis are to be found in the degenerative changes brought about by faulty living habits and specifically by nutritional abuses, it stands to reason to expect that a program of biological treatments is dominated by dietetic measures.

It is a general observation that the diet of arthritic patients has been deficient in vital nutritive elements for prolonged periods and loaded with overcooked, canned, frozen, devitalized, and overrefined foods. In addition, the great amount of empty calories from white sugar and white flour and all the foodless monstrosities made from them makes such a diet even more unhealthy. This sort of nutritional abuse, combined with other health-destroying factors in the form of overeating, use of alcohol, smoking, coffee, lack of exercise, etc., has caused a general breakdown of their health and triggered the development of degenerative processes in their joints.

In order to reverse the process, rebuild the general health of the patient, initiate a betterment in his condition, and induce a subsequent cure, a radical overhaul of his dietary habits is of prime importance. The diet must be as easy as possible for the digestive system to handle and, at the same time, provide all the nutrients required for the repair and building of a healthy body.

The diet during the first two to four weeks consists mainly of raw, uncooked fruits and vegetables (Frischkost). Some of the clinics which I visited use certain amounts of cooked foods in addition to Frischkost. Most Swedish biological clinics use boiled potatoes and vegetable soups in addition to raw foods. They all use raw milk in the form of homemade soured milk. The Bircher-Benner Clinic in Switzerland, one of the most advanced and best-known biological clinics in the world, excludes all cooked foods during the first phase of the treatment— as well as all foods of animal origin: meat, fish, eggs, milk, butter, and cheese. Bread and cooked cereals are eliminated as well during the first two to four weeks. Raw nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains are included in the raw food diet.

Uncooked foods will supply not only all the necessary vitamins and minerals, but also all the enzymes and easily digestible natural starches and proteins needed for healthy functioning of the body. Another advantage of such a diet is that it will cause a minimum of waste retention and sluggishness in the digestive organs and will help the body in its cleansing and detoxicating process. It is a purifying and cleansing diet.

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April 28, 2009

Like arthritis, fibromyalgia is probably triggered long before the symptoms become obvious. Still, especially with fibromyalgia, those symptoms may become very severe in a very short time. The advanced symptoms include muscular weakness affecting many major muscles, persistent joint and muscle pain, stiffness that is hard to eliminate, joints that frequently lock up, and debilitating chronic fatigue.

Often, knobby growths appear on the fingers as well. Clumsiness sets in as motor control diminishes.

It’s another one of those “incurable” diseases that leads your doctor to say, “Sorry, there’s nothing more we can do.” And if you’re a severe case you get sent home to wait for the inevitable deterioration of your body that eventually leads to insupportable pain and a wheelchair existence. Depression and suicide are not uncommon.

Mrs R.R., at age 41, had already been told there was nothing more that could be done other than exercise and physical therapy. But with just one bottle of CMO she was able to get free of pain, regain her strength, resume her household chores, and scamper around on the floor with her baby.

Another woman in her eighties complained that her pain was so bad she hadn’t had a decent rest in over two years. She was never able to sleep more than two hours at a time and rarely got more than three or fours hours during any night.

She suffered the customary pains and weakness, complaining mostly about her hands and knees. She couldn’t even hold a pen for more than a minute. After just three days on

CMO she was sleeping comfortably again. Within a week she was free of pain. Her hands and legs regained their strength and she resumed her normal activities, including letter writing with a pen.

Though we don’t see quite as high a success rate with fibromyalgia as we do with arthritis (probably about 70% to 75%), we’re working on bettering those results.

Scleroderma responds in a manner quite similar to fibromyalgia. However, the success rate of CMO for scleroderma is even a bit lower than that for fibromyalgia. Nevertheless, we are getting a number of good CMO success stories for scleroderma too.

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• THE PROGRAM OF BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTS OF ARTHRITIS: DIET