Recently I had a 39 year old woman contact me. She wanted to know if I could treat Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Arthritis means inflammation of joints. RA is the type of arthritis that in time joints become deformed. It is quite painful and debilitating. I asked her if she had been under extreme stress in the past. She mentioned that she went through a divorce a year ago and it was and has been quite overwhelming.
Before I continue, I must digress to give some history. Some years back I decided that I wanted to get to the root cause of ailments and not just treat the symptoms. Treating symptoms is utilized by Western medicine and many times within alternative health options. Granted that keeping symptoms at a managed level using natural means has less side affects than pharmaceutical drugs; however, the point is that most people want to get total relief without having to constantly be taking something. Additionally, many symptoms worsen with time and dosages of medications or supplements need to be increased.
Consequently, my desire to get to the root of many ailments leads me to conduct extensive research (via the internet; the most valuable tool in finding studies conducted through-out the world) which brings wonderful insights. Something which seems to be a pattern with the American Medical Association (AMA) is that it can take decades to accept findings which seem to hold much promise in helping people recover from a health problem.
For example, in the 1950’s there were a few papers published and presentations made at medical conventions by foreign physicians/practitioners who relayed that they had been able to cure people of peptic ulcers. They mentioned that they suspected that peptic ulcers were caused by some type of pathogen. One Greek practitioner, after curing thousands, attempted to publish his findings in medical journals but was denied publication. Meanwhile 30 years transpire and peptic ulcer sufferers are in constant pain, taking daily high volumes of antacids and some resorting to surgery. Not until the 1980’s did two Australian physicians once more take up the notion of a pathogen as the culprit and finally isolated the Helicobacter pylori bacterium (H. Pylori). Once more it took 2 years before their research was taken seriously. Doctors could not believe that a bacterium could survive hydrochloric acid and colonize in the stomach. But there it was. The root of the issue. In the late 1980’s the news hits the wires about this great discovery. Now peptic ulcer symptoms could be eliminated in two weeks by the use of a couple of antibiotics. By the way, years before this announcement I was already aware of a couple of herbal formulas which eradicated the H. Pylori bacterium. Thousands had already been cured by these formulas.
Returning back to the woman who contacted me regarding Rheumatoid Arthritis – The reason I asked her about extreme stress in her life is that I have observed that people with RA, prior to the onset, had a high probability of a compromised immune system; whether it was due to illness or life events which caused the stress, the person’s body defenses had been down. The importance of this observation is that there have been studies that indicate that many disease labeled “auto-immune”, like RA, have its origin with a foreign microbe (mycoplasma; suspected culprit, bacterium, viruses…etc.) which enters the body and begins to colonize (click here for one of numerous articles on this finding). I suspect that with a lowered immune system the mycoplasma has the opportunity it needs to make someone its host. There are a few Doctors which have proven to themselves that certain antibiotics at low dosages, administered for a period of time, can stop the progression of RA. Currently, this protocol is not used by most physicians. Instead a patient is put on anti-inflammatories and pain killers for life.
About 8 years ago it was discovered in a blood test that I had a positive RF (rheumatoid factor) finding. The test was run a second time and it came up positive again. I was told that this indicates a high probability of developing rheumatoid arthritis or another “auto-immune disease” called Sjogren’s Syndrome. Once they told me there was nothing they could do to reverse this finding, I did my research put together a nutrient regimen and 3 1/2 months later I took a blood test again and had a negative RF outcome! Why? Because the root of the cause was eliminated. By the way, besides the RF coming back negative a strange rosecea type coloring from my cheeks along with labored breathing also disappeared.
Another personal experience which left a very strong impression on me and brought home the point that it is very important to think outside of the box, was my “healing” from miscarriages. When my eldest daughter was 2 years old, my husband and I decided to try for our second child. What occurred was totally unexpected. I had three miscarriages at about the 7th week of pregnancy. I had many tests performed and none indicated there was anything awry. My husband and I came to accept that we would probably only have one child.
That autumn my mom and I decided to take a one month vacation to Mexico. While vacationing my mom sought out the services of a Doctor who practiced in a way that got people extraordinary results. He was a believer in natural medicine supplementation and also did not always go with the medical association protocols because he saw many flaws in them. As my mom ended her appointment with him, she non-chalantly asked the Doctor if he could help me. She explained about my miscarriages. He asked if I’d be willing to take some x-rays. I had no problem, so I had x-rays taken of my pelvis and hip area.
Three days prior to returning to the U.S. I returned with the x-rays. He reviewed them and showed me how my spine and hips were misaligned. He suspected this may the problem. He worked on me for about 90 minutes (not only was he a neurologist but he had studied the skeletal structure extensively). Before I left, he confidently said to me “send me a picture of your new baby when you have it”. I returned to the U.S., got pregnant three months later and had my second baby girl 9 months after on her due date! Once more an example of getting to the root cause! And, yes, I did send the Doctor a picture of the proud parents and new baby.
I can go on and on about so many other physical ailments that have their root causes in certain deficiencies or toxicities, but I believe I made my point that when the root cause is dealt with the results are amazing. Besides the physical, getting to the root of any emotional, mental or spiritual imbalance also gives way to freedom from confusion, worry, mental stress, suffering and more.
As I told the 39 year old woman that called me regarding Rheumatoid Arthritis (she is still deciding what to do), “Whatever you decide to do make sure it gets to the root. If not, you will surely be taking something for the rest of your life and your suffering will increase”. My wish for you is that you always seek to get to the root of a problem unless you enjoy drama.
Either way, its ALL good!
I completely agree with your assesment of Western medicine…treat the symptoms, ignore the cause…I agree with you whole heartedly that we can often find the cure by looking at our diet and body for the answers…we don’t need man made chemicals to cure what ails us…we need to be listening to what our bodies need and want…
Darcie,
Thank you for your comment. It is great to know that you are one of many who have come to this realization; it does not make sense to ignore the root causes. Symptoms and pain are a form in which our body communicates with us. Unfortunately, we are not taught to interpret what our body needs and so we go on this long detour of suppressing symptoms and slowly feeling worse.