Over the last few months, I've seen a lot of posts on here about Cannabis and CBD Oil and there seems to be a lot of misconceptions so I thought I'd try and clean things up.
Before I can explain why Cannabis and CBD Oil can be effective in helping with RA it's important to know one of the reasons why RA develops in the first place...
The onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis is closely linked to childhood trauma, chronic stress, chronic anxiety as well as prolonged/frequent periods of fear and depression. The more traumatic events you experienced as a child, the more likely you are to develop RA.
Scientists haven't been able to 100% identify why this connection exists. But the most likely reasons based on what we know about the body so far are:
1. Traumatic events and chronic periods of unhappiness can alter brain development and the process of Neurogenesis [the brain doesn't develop correctly or repair itself]. Childhood trauma is closely linked to a number of Neurological conditions in adulthood.
2. Traumatic events and chronic periods of unhappiness are also known to alter or damage DNA.
3. Traumatic events and chronic periods of unhappiness can alter the Bacterial compositions of our Gut Microbiome. The Gut in our Bacteria effect gene expression. If someone has led a particularly traumatic/stressful life, their Gut Bacteria can be significantly changed and these Bacteria can then "turn on" the genes for RA.
I just wanted to explain that, so that it makes more sense how the mechanisms for why Cannabis and CBD Oil can help people with RA...
So lets jump right in...
I've seen a few people post that they are nervous about taking Cannabis because they have friends/family who has gone off the rails after taking this drug.
I completely understand. Cannabis consists of around 90 different compounds and many of them are Psychoactive.
Cannabis can be incredibly beneficial for most people when taken in moderation, but like with anything, it can also amplify certain personality traits if you are particularly paranoid or anxious.
Another problem with smoking Cannabis and inhaling synthetic Cannabis is that Lung Disease caused by Chronic Inflammation of the lungs is a complication in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Smoking real or synthetic Cannabis will most likely irritate the lungs and therefore may not be a good option for someone with RA.
CBD Oil is completely different. CBD is one of the compounds found in the Cannabis plant and it is HIGHLY anti-inflammatory. It has ZERO psychoactive effect. This means that you can take very high doses of CBD and still not experience the "High" that Cannabis gives you.
You don't need to be worried about any of the negative effects of taking Cannabis when taking CBD Oil.
The Psychoactive compound in the Cannabis plant that causes people to get high is called "THC". THC is not present in CBD. CBD is a completely different chemical compound.
CBD Oil is currently legal to buy in the UK and many countries. Many health food stores now sell it. You can also easily buy it on Ebay, Amazon or a variety of online retailers.
CBD is legal because it is not a drug. It is an anti-inflammatory. They even sold it in Tesco for a brief time.
So the real question is... Does it work?
A lot of research has been conducted on CBD Oil and it has been shown to be a powerful anti-inflammatory without any of the nasty side effects that come from taking Steroids and NSAIDs. Historically it has been difficult to research because of the stigma attached to it, but slowly more and more research is being funded because of its powerful impact on treating Neurological conditions like Epilepsy.
The way that CBD works is a very deep topic to discuss, so I won't go into too much detail, but I encourage you to read the following studies if you want to learn more:
It's also important to learn about inflammatory cytokines and the role that they play in RA. Interleukin 6 is particularly implicated in RA. CBD is know to be a powerful suppressor of Interleukin 6:
The use of CBD Oil as a treatment for RA is very interesting because Pharmaceutical companies have actually developed "Anti Interleukin 6" medications for RA:
We often see the Pharmaceutical industry copy the chemical processes of certain plant compounds and turn them into medications [antibiotics developed from Fungi, Aspirin developed from Willow Tree etc]. The problem is. The synthetic medications come with a hell of a lot of nasty side effects because the Pharmaceutical companies screw with mother nature.
Based on research it appears that high doses of CBD Oil are just as effective at suppressing IL6 inflammatory Cytokines as those "Anti IL6" medications. Pharmaceutical companies can't patent or sell CBD Oil, so it looks like they are trying to copy it's mechanisms instead so that they can make money from the way in which it works...
CBD Oil works because it can cross the blood / brain barrier and reduce inflammation in the brain.
We know that RA flares get worse when people are stressed out, depressed, anxious, unhappy etc and all of these feelings are caused by inflammation in the brain or create inflammation in the brain.
By crossing the blood / brain barrier, CBD Oil acts as an anti inflammatory on the brain and has a powerful effect on reducing stress, depression, anxiety, unhappiness etc.
This, in turn makes flares less severe.
But CBD Oil also has another impact on RA...
All humans have a system in the body called the "Endocannabinoid system". This system is in charge of regulating "Homeostasis" in the body:
Even though the World Health Organization aren't brave enough to go out and say it yet, it has pretty much been proven beyond all reasonable doubt that all serious diseases including Cancer, RA and all other Autoimmune Diseases develop when the body falls very far out of Homeostasis.
The factors which contribute to the body falling out of Homeostasis are Diet, Lack of Exercise, too much exercise, lack of sleep, disrupted body clock, Trauma, Chronic unhappiness, frequent fear, Chronic Anxiety, Chronic Stress, exposure to Toxins. The more of these factors you have present in your life at any one time, the more likely you are to develop a serious disease. A combination of these factors seems to create the "perfect storm" for the onset of Disease.
The Endocannabinoid system is in charge of trying to regulate all of these stressors and process them so that they do not have as big of an impact.
CBD Oil fuels the Endocannabinoid system, which ultimately makes us more resilient. This, in turn, has a powerful, systematic effect on Inflammation throughout the body.
The big thing to take away from this post is that NSAIDs and Steroids are the current first-line anti-inflammatory drugs used to relieve RA symptoms, but both of these medications increase systematic inflammation in the body long term. When people take these medications, they just move the problem further down the line and the pain and inflammation often comes back with a vengeance.
These medications also make achieving remission very difficult because they only make the underlying problems causing RA worse.
Early research indicates that CBD Oil is just as, or more effective at reducing long-term inflammation than Steroids and anti-inflammatories, with none of the nasty side effects or long-term damage caused by these medications.
Like I say in all my posts. These topics that I post about have extreme levels of depth and I don't have time to explain things at the level of depth that they deserve. I could write books on most of these topics. I only have time to give brief overviews.
I have to ask you guys to trust me. I'm doing this from a place of Love. I want to help you.
The Pharmaceutical companies and the NHS are not doing their best to help you. If they really wanted to make a difference they would prescribe CBD Oil instead of Naproxen and Arcoxia. The research is out there that proves CBD is a powerful anti-inflammatory.
The NHS prescribe CBD based medications to reduce inflammation in the brain of people with Multiple Sclerosis and Epilepsy. Why not develop something similar for RA?
Maybe they're working on it. But they are too slow. Don't wait for them to catch up to the latest Scientific research. Act now and take back your own health.
NSAIDs like Ibuprofen, Naproxen, and Arcoxia damage the small intestine, which causes more long-term inflammation. It's short-term relief for more pain long term.
CBD is a powerful anti-inflammatory with zero side effects and it causes no damage to any part of the body.
Every time I post here I get destroyed by people that rip me apart, but they won't stop me. I'll keep posting here every day, because if I can help one person feel better then it is worth it.
I just want to ask one thing...
Please don't respond to the topic unless you read all the links that I shared.
It's really upsetting when I spend time writing these posts and sharing lots of resources and then someone replies with something like:
"This can't be true because my Rheumatologist said that Diet has no impact on inflammation".
Please learn more about the NICE guidelines to understand the legal reasons why your Rheumatologist cannot be truthful with you about the latest research into things like Diet and CBD Oil:
If you've worked in a large organization you will know that it takes an eternity for change to occur. It might take the NHS 10-15 years to act upon the latest Scientific research.
Why wait for them to catch up when you can act now?
Written by
Allsopp
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There is sooooooooooooooooo much research and evidence linking Childhood Trauma to RA.
It's way too deep of a topic for me to go into on here, but please read up on it. It is fascinating. Everything will make sense when you start to learn more about why this occurs.
The basic gist is...
Childhood trauma causes you to develop subconscious behaviors at a young age that cause you to feel a certain way about certain situations that you encounter everyday.
For example, someone who suffered a traumatic childhood are more likely to be more emotionally hurt over situations than someone that did not have a traumatic childhood. For some reason they are less resilient emotionally.
Or they develop great strength from their tough times and they are even more resilient. This then causes them to lead a very busy and stressful life because they feel that they can "take on the world" and they have something to prove.
Over a lifetime these subtle subconscious behaviors add up and cause disease to develop.
Like I said in my original post. There is an overwhelming amount of research that shows us that optimum health occurs when there is homeostasis in the body. Trying to be too tough or being too emotional means that you have fallen out of homeostasis. The sweet spot is right in the middle...
But don't worry!!! There's good news is!!!
When you identify what these disease driving behaviors are, you can retrain your brain at any age and start to reverse Disease, or at the very least have a profound impact on the severity of your symptoms and Disease Progression. You can essentially hit the pause button.
I recommend reading this book if you want to learn more:
If interested, Yvettebloo, supplemental resources that may be of additional use, : Healing Power of Resilience, Optimism, & Hope: Moving Forward from Trauma, PTSD, Physical & Psychological Abuse & Illness — Dave Pelzer: healthunlocked.com/nras/pos...
You're right. I just spent an hour of my time writing that post to mislead you. There's absolutely no truth to any of it.
I even created accounts on Wikipedia and Pubmed so that I could create fake Scientific studies and information. The Anti IL-6 Rheumatoid Arthritis medications don't even exist. I made them up.
My motive is that I manufacture and sell CBD Oil in the UK.
I'm lying to you all so that you'll buy my products and I'll get rich.
I was astonished when I looked up cannabis sativa online a couple of months ago.
As soon as nylon was invented, hemp (cannabis sativa, source of best CBD oil and strong, hatdwearing cloth) was practically outlawed.
Looking at where nylon comes from, it does not demand a lot of intelligence to see why this was promoted in the 1960s and 70s, while suppressing good old hemp.
That is just one example of the truth we all should know...
Thank you for this post. It is well written and enlightened.
It can be so exhausting defending a natural approach to treatment. We all are informed by our environment but vilifying cannabis is not unlike prohibition. The bottom line is the almighty dollar. Pharmaceutical companies cannot profit from these approaches. It blows my mind that people will just take whatever a doctor prescribes and yet resist diet or lifestyle changes with such tenacity.
They are NOT mutually exclusive. You can follow a doctors protocols and still try natural remedies.
Well I'm sold, really interesting and i try to keep an open mind about everything so thanks for posting, will read links in detail later. Out of interest does this mean you don't take dmards either or is it just the anti-inflammatories you lay off? The last rheumatology conference i went to seemed v pharmaceutical company biased in terms of research and drugs rather than any cause /cure info. The side effects of these rather potent chemicals worry me and the attitude seems to be totally joint fixated rather than any of these.
I have not read all the links because I have also found these parts of the jigsaw about what actually causes RA, and I suspect there is a simple cure that is being ignored due to the concentration on drugs that pervades modern medicine.
This is compounded by the reliance on research by pharmaceutical companies before ‘drug therapies’ pass FDA or NICE guidelines.
I intend to get CBD oil as soon as my budget allows, so that will be early 2018 when I get PIP.
Essential oils, particularly frankincense, are on my list of weapons to use too.
We need to think outside the small box of modern Western medicine and not throw out all suggestions that are ‘natural’ or simple or contradict the way we have been trained to accept medicinal therapies without question.
Thanks, very interesting. I've had more stress in my life than you could shake a mucky stick at! It's well known that stress can cause all sorts of diseases. I don't think it's nonsense at all.
Unfortunately CBD oil failed to work for me after taking it for 10 weeks. I did start to think that it might be doing something at one stage, but it was a case of..is it..or isn't it having any effect??...I'm just not sure? Which to my way of thinking means that at best it may be having a negligible effect, but more than likely is doing nothing at all.
I was really disappointed that CBD oil failed to help me, but it does seem to work for some people so worth giving it a go......
I recently started using the CBD oil cream on my knees and the soft tissue behind them seems less painful. I think I said this before but my childhood and adolescence was perfectly happy and stable so no stress causing adult inflammation there. I did have a lot of work stress the year prior to getting RA so I believe that was why but cannot prove. I was working 14 hour days with a horrible boss who didn't care if I went home or not and a long commute.
My previous rheumatologist actually said if anyone wants to smoke cannabis they can do so as far as she was concerned and wasn't going to tell them not to and she listened to all my ideas on diet and supplements. Some are very open minded but they do ask you to tell them of any herbals and supplements. In the early (naive) days I took a very powerful plant sterol alongside my prescribed DMARD which was actually potentially dangerous. She said to me .. One or the other .. So she never tried to stop me, but advised.
They have a duty in their role as doctor as such to stop/control the disease element/inflammation and get patients back to moving and living a decent life so the easiest way is to prescribe proven medication and give you access to physiotherapy (and hydrotherapy if appropriate.) The choice is yours if you want to take a powerful medication or not. They can only recommend. I refused biologics for three years and was crazily scared at the things written about their side effects and thinking I would pick back up on Mtx alone and then added in Leflunomide but it didn't work. I was in so much pain I went for anti TNF, and now on an infusion. The best thing so far mobility and inflammation wise. I am sure my RA it isn't eating a poor diet as I exclude so much which are known as triggers and have for years. I eat very well.
My rheumy's have said to me it was far more dangerous to have out of control widespread RA inflammation than take the meds.
Reading Damaged's post, I agree with her re the combo of natural and prescribed meds, and know my rheumy team do too. They always ask you to tell them and they have a resource file of all natural remedies and the nurses know quite a lot about them. My ex rheumy was spot on re the plant sterol. Two major substances which didn't fit together! Some things you are able to take alongside and some things not .
Once we have a notion of fixed ideas in our minds it's very hard to shift that whether it is that s strict exclusion diet will get rid of your RA or that taking cannabis oil will resolve it. I'm a watch and see what happens with others kind of person .. Where is the evidence etc.. However that approach didn't help when I was offered the choice of three anti TNF's. Enbrel, Humira or Simponi. I chose what I saw to be the ones launched first and used on the market for longer and neither Enbrel or Humira worked for me (Enbrel did like magic for five weeks from the first day but then nosedived. Humira did nothing at all.) I would never be pressured by anyone to take something or follow a regime I didn't believe in. You have to feel comfortable to a certain extent with what you are doing.
My rheumatologist has had at least 7 years training to be best positioned to advise me through managing my RA as best as I can - I find half informed loud amatures who think they are qualified to bad mouth my rheumy, my GP, myself and the informed route of treatment I choose to take to keep me well enough to continue working full time annoying at best.
Your medical qualifications and subsequent rheumatoidology experience?
The most significant advancements in technology and solutions come from people who can look at problems with fresh eyes.
Leonardo Da Vinci didn't have any Medical qualifications either. He was an artist and an inventor.
Da Vinci has contributed more to Medical research than almost anyone that has ever lived.
He did this because he was passionate and inquisitive. He had a deep desire to learn how things worked.
Qualifications will not cure disease. People who are passionate about solving problems and learning about the human body will cure disease.
Your approach to medicine will never bring us any closer to a cure.
Rheumatologists are trained in Diagnostics.
I am trained in Research and Development.
I'm far more qualified to come up with solutions to a problem than a Rheumatologist.
Next time you have an appointment with your Rheumatologist, ask him how much time he spends conducting research and staying up to date with the latest advancements in Medical Science and Rheumatology? I'm guessing he won't be able to spend hardly any time because he is extremely busy Diagnosing illness and Treating Disease. That's his job. Researching and learning about the Human body is not his job.
This is not a criticism. This is our reality.
Our Healthcare system is pushed to its limits. Rheumatologists spend all their time Diagnosing and Treating Disease. They don't have time to learn.
Thousands of new Medical studies are published every month.
If a Rheumatologist graduated Medical School 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago, do you really trust the advice they give you?
Again, this is not a criticism of Rheumatologists. It's just the harsh reality of the time that we live in.
Diseases will be cured by passionate, inquisitive people who are determined to find answers and solve problems.
How dare you say rheumatologists have no time to learn? You have no idea what they do with their "spare time" and have no right to judge them. A doctor's job is not 9 to 5, treat people then go home. Many of them spend hours keeping up to date with the latest in medicine and research. I would definitely want anyone giving me medical advice to have medical qualifications and yes, I would trust a doctor who qualified 20 years ago far more than I would trust someone who is only trained in research and development. That's what has gone wrong with the NHS, far too many "managers" who have no medical training whatsoever.
don't say you are not critisising when you are, and you are judging people who you know nothing about.
A Rheumatologist is just about as qualified to conduct surgery as they are to conduct research and solve problems.
Rheumatologists are trained in the diagnosis, treatment and management of Disease.
Surgeons are trained in surgery.
Researchers are trained in finding new information to solve problems.
Three different skills, that are all equally important. No single skill is better than the other. They all have their place.
A Rheumatologist knows a lot about Inflammatory Arthritis as a Disease, but it's not their job to come up with new ways to treat, cure or prevent the illness.
Medical qualifications and working as a Rheumatologist for 20 years doesn't put them in any stronger position to find a cure than someone with an analytically wired, problem solving brain who has a deep desire to learn and help people.
I'd even argue that the person approaching research with zero experience and a fresh set of eyes is in a much better position to find solutions because they won't get bogged down by old knowledge and bias that may cloud their judgement.
Honda and Toyota have been trying to make Electric cars for Decades.
Elon Musk came out of nowhere and made the best Electric Car on the planet with absolutely no experience in the Automotive industry.
Steve Jobs never worked a day in music, but he helped Apple sell more music than any other company on the planet.
Nick Woodman never jumped out of an Airplane in a Squirrel suit, but he developed the GoPro to capture unforgettable moments in extreme sports.
Jose Mourinho never made it as a footballer, but he has won almost every trophy there is to win in world football.
Richard Branson never flew a plane and had never worked in Transport, but he built one of the largest Airlines in the world.
I'm not comparing myself to any of those guys.
I'm just trying to make the point that fresh eyes bring new ideas and a new way of looking at things.
Rheumatologists and Pharmaceutical companies have barely made any progress in treating RA in the last 100 years. You can't rely on them to make significant steps forward in the research and development of new solutions to old problems.
Their approach over the last 100 years has been to suppress inflammation and turn off parts of our Immune System. We know from the last 100 years that these are not effective solutions.
People like Elon Musk and Leonardo Da Vinci solve problems. Rheumatologists Diagnose and Treat Disease.
They are completely different skills. It takes two completely different types of character.
I do wish you'd move on from the line about no progress having been made in last 100 years. Just look at the mortality statistics from 1917 to see the difference (let alone 1918). And the comorbitities in people with RA were far worse as well as quality of life.
Yes, things could of course be better but no need to rubbish everything that committed people have done.
I agree with Helix helix. Why must you run the medical profession down all the time? I trained as a nurse in the early 1970's and the difference in patients with RA now compared to then is astronomical! I nursed people in their 30's/40's with RA who were totally bedbound because there were not the drugs that there are now. They weren't even in wheelchairs because their permanently bent, stiff and deformed limbs would not allow them to sit. Absolutely everything had to be done for them...washed, fed, grooming , personal hygeine etc they could do nothing for themselves and had a much reduced life expectancy. I have seen all that first hand, not just read about it on Wikipedia. Now tell me things gaven't moved on since the 70's, and that is only in one field. There has been enormous progress in all field of medicine. Tell us about your own achievements if you must, but don't disrespect the medical profession.
There hasn't been much progress at all. The treatment options are extremely underwhelming when we know so much about the body.
Methotrexate was brought into mainstream use in the 1980s.
Since then the only real advancement we've had in RA treatment is Biologics.
Neither drug has brought us any closer to a cure.
Even with these drugs in existence, RA still ruins lives and causes extreme pain. This is not good enough.
They've had 40 years to develop new solutions since Methotrexate was first used in the 1980s. Are Biologics really the best they have to offer us?
Mobile phones barely existed in the 80s and now we all walk around with supercomputers in our pockets.
Biologics are a slight upgrade to Methotrexate.
We have learned so much about the body in the last 40 years, but modern day medications do not reflect that.
It's the same old approach. Treat and suppress symptoms and hope for the best.
We still treat Cancer with the same technologies that we used in the 1950s. How is it even possible to see such slow progress when we have so many more tools and resources at our disposal?
It kills me that we have learned so much, but we don't use any of that knowledge.
Most technologies experience massive periods of growth, but Chronic Disease has barely progressed.
Pharmaceutical companies have Billions of dollars at their disposal to research and develop solutions for Chronic Disease. If you go on any of the websites for the top companies you'll see that absolutely none of them use the word "Cure" in Investor or Research areas of their website. That's because none of them are looking for a cure. They all use the word "Treatments" instead. There's a big difference between a cure and a treatment. This isn't good enough. They're trying to develop new subscription products. They are not trying to help people get better.
My brain struggles to process why people would reject sound Scientific research just because the World Health Organization, NHS, FDA etc have not approved it.
If these organizations had been effective in helping people I could understand, but the fact is, they've all done a terrible job of treating Chronic Disease in modern times.
Solutions exist in this world right now to these problems, but these large organizations ignore that information.
Instead of wasting time questioning facts, we should be collectively working together to share knowledge and learn new ways to reverse Disease.
Sorry but you are totally wrong. The medical profession are working all out to help people with chronic diseases. Please don't try to destroy the faith we need to have in the medical profession to keep us living a near normal life where possible. We don't need untrained people telling us what we should do. It's our disease, our bodies. You don't even have RA if I remember rightly, it's your wife who has it. Such a lot of what you say is wrong.
Both sides bring faith!!! So please don't lose faith!
Please do not see this as a negative thing!
Having more options available to us open up more ways to manage and reverse RA.
Medicine is just one route.
With Medical research, we discover different routes.
One of these routes will eventually lead us to the answer. Or more likely, multiple routes will lead us to several answers that apply to different kinds of people.
This is a very, very positive thing. Please don't lose faith!
You may not believe it right now, but we are much closer to a solution that we've ever been.
Science has pretty much discovered what causes Rheumatoid Arthritis. When you understand the cause of something, you can reverse engineer a solution.
One way or another I strongly believe that RA will be a minor inconvenience within the next 5-10 years. The amount of new data published every year is staggering.
Chronic systematic inflammation is at the root cause of all Chronic Disease. But we know pretty much all the causes of inflammation in the body. This means that collectively we are very, very close to a solution.
The point I am trying to make is...
This solution exists in various, scattered ways right now. The data is out there.
Problem is...
It will take a very long time for the World Health Organization, NHS, FDA to implement changes and change the way that we treat Chronic Disease.
Why wait for them to catchup, when we can start reversing Disease today?
I have definitely had no childhood trauma whatsoever, I honestly think my onset was due to inoculations. That said it killed my uncle and my aunt has RA as well so probably down to genetics. I've been looking into CBD oil and once out of my present employment and if things got worse I would definitely give it a go, thanks for the information.
Did you really just compare yourself to Leonardo De Vinci?
Trained in researching and developing what exactly?
My approach to medicine? I don’t have ‘an approach’ to medicine just an adversion for listening to over sized egos spouting off about all they can do before they’ve done it, criticising me for living my life to the best of my ability (which is clearly not very good in your opinion but that’s ok I’ve never attached too much value to the opinions of others unless I know and trust them so no harm done there!).
My next rheumy appointment? I will wisely use the time to discus my present health, what appears to be working for me and what I would like further guidance on and she in turn will listen, share her thoughts and ideas and we will go from there to keep me enjoying optimum health for as long as possible.
I'm getting rather tired of this now Allsopp, sorry to say. My previous rheumatologist was involved with research as are most of the rheumatologists I've seen in the past 20 years. If they just doled out the same old pills etc., they'd not be encouraging people to go for biologics/try new meds. I see all the time the research and development news in the Arthritis Today magazines at hospital, showing that rheumatologists are involved in research so that isn't quite right what you are saying. The Professors of rheumatology are working in the university research departments as well as in patient clinics. They are in my part of the world anyhow. Maybe different in your part of the world? You seem to have a real downer on rheumatologists and may have your reasons, but my rheumys work tirelessly in addition to the clinic hours and attend study days and conferences. They are in research committees and keep up with the latest innovations in medicine. I was asked to help my previous senior rheumy with a research programne into one of the anti TNFs so there is more proof she was involved in research. She taught at the University of Leeds to medical students. Just because they are primarily diagnosing and treating patients doesn't mean they haven't an inquisitive mind. You have to have an inquisitive mind to have studied at their level. You are undermining many great rheumatologists by what you are saying. Maybe you/your partner have unfortunately had bad experiences with rheumatologists which makes you have this attitude and belief.
Sorry Kittie, I think I am not explaining myself well and you misunderstood me.
I love Rheumatologists and anyone that works in medicine. They are amazing people.
I couldn't do it. I am grateful that people can. I have a lot of admiration for them.
They are the salt of the earth.
The point I'm trying to make is...
You don't need to have a Medical qualification to learn about the body and solve Medical problems. This is a really old-fashioned way of thinking. Anyone can read, and learn information.
You just need to have the right type of mind for it.
Of course there will be Rheumatologists who are involved in research... But...
If you were given a $1 Billion budget to find a cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis, who would you rather lead the project?
Gosh Allsopp you seem to be digging a big hole here! I just see people getting very annoyed about some generalised statements and maybe it is very different from where you are to where many of us are.
I understand Musk is a graduate in physics and economics. I would rather have a relevant medically qualified person researching, thank you .. qualified in the condition I have ... Rheumatology. In truth there would be several medical people with different specialisations, but a senior rheumatologist should be heading up the research into rheumatology.
If I go into my rheumy clinic next month and they say to me .. There is an economics graduate here who's got a really good innovative mind and wants to research rheumatology now so will you be their patent? The answer is always going to be no thank you.
If we've been pursuing one avenue for the last 100 years and it hasn't really got us anywhere, wouldn't it be better going in a completely different direction?
What do we have to lose?
You said it yourself...
Traditional Rheumatology is looking at researching more Anti TNFs. Why do we need more Anti TNFs?
Did you know that Chaga mushrooms are highly effective at suppressing TNF with none of the nasty side effects that come from using synthetic anti TNF treatments?
How do you know that the Pharmaceutical companies didn't discover this and copy Chemical compounds found in Chaga, to develop synthetic Anti TNF medications that they can sell for £400 per injection?
What if the key to reversing disease lies in emotional wellbeing, diet, restoring the gut microbiome, rebuilding damaged cells with stem cell treatments, supporting the immune system instead of suppressing it?
Traditional research is focused on developing new treatments. They are not focused on reversing disease.
It's hard for me to trust traditional research outlets because I strongly believe they are focusing their efforts on the wrong areas.
The major Arthritis charities that are focusing on researching the role that environmental factors play in disease only use a very small % of there budgets researching these areas. Instead, they focus most of their resources on finding new Anti TNFs.
Why?
Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars developing new medications. Why does Arthritis Research UK need to pursue the same goals?
A Gastroenterologist recently conducted the first study into the Autoimmune Protocol Diet for treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
The diet helped 73% of people with Crohns Disease and Ulcerative Collitis achieve remission. The results were recently published:
Unfortunately, it was a nightmare to get funding for this project because most Medical research is funded by Pharmaceutical companies. Because of this, they could only afford to put 14 people through the study.
If all these Universities and Charities REALLY wanted to put this argument to bed forever, they could easily do a similar study on a larger scale for RA.
Why not just take 100 newly diagnosed people with RA, put them on the AIP diet for 6 months and see what happens?
This is why I get passionate and frustrated.
There is overwhelming evidence out there that certain things can be done to reverse disease in a large % of people, but it is ignored by all the large organizations who control the purse strings.
This website is the very last place on earth I would expect to come and see resistance to these ideas.
Sometimes I feel like the lunatics are running the asylum. The solution seems so obvious to me.
Spend money. Do the research. See what results we get.
Arthritis Research UK 1000% have the budget and resources to do this.
The potential benefits could be life-changing for millions of people. The potential downside is no worse than the downside of researching a new medication which proves to be ineffective.
If there really is no truth or substance to any alternative methods of treating RA, why not take a tiny % of the BILLIONS of dollars spent on trying to find new Medications every year to finally put the argument to bed?
I am very passionate about this topic because there are many ways that we can influence Inflammation in the body and conventional medicine does a really bad job of educating people on this.
The research is out there, but for the most part it is not being used.
This is unacceptable when millions of people suffer everyday and lives get ruined.
We need more new arthritis meds as people fail the ones we've got. There's more choice now but not really enough. It's after 1am where I am and I don't want to be dreaming of this if I don't sign off after this reply . Lack of sleep is also very bad for RA! I agree diet is so important but that is a hard road to educate people re their eating habits not to mention drinking habits. I am very choosy about diet. I will read your diet link after the weekend as I want to enjoy a social media free weekend. If you are following a special diet and it doesn't work for you and your joints are left unprotected with no prescribed meds, you can get severe joint damage and high inflammation levels harming your body. I didn't say/mean "new anti TNFs" .. I said .. More biologics. They are moving on all the time. New ones ready to be unveiled soon. That's quite bonkers to say that things haven't moved on in the last hundred years??? What was given to rheumatoid arthritis sufferers in 1917? Not much to halt it and stop the disease activity. Pain relief the main thing. I am very interested in therapeutic cloning and stem cell research. Longevity was the main subject matter for my Masters in Fine Art. I did loads of research . Some different approaches fascinate me and I'm very scientific. Also I'm a business graduate so I balance out on fact and figures too. I am never against alternative sources of innovation.
Am I understanding it is your partner who sadly has arthritis and you are trying to help them conquer this? This is very admirable that you are researching for them if so. However you are coming on here with a very specific viewpoint and telling many people who have found a source of relief via immunosuppressant prescribed meds and have got their arthritis/condition under good control that you advocate them stopping that and following a diet which may not work for them!!. Most alarmingly you are insulting us too when you scorn our rheumatologists.
People please be aware that Chaga mushrooms appear to be a double edged sword in that in animal research it has shown that it can reduce inflammation and cancer activity but it has also shown, by stimulating other immune cells, that it boosts part of the immune system and makes it more effective at fighting off bacteria and viruses - it’s currently not known if these contradictions would or would not benefit an RD patient.
Just in case some one reading this thread saw their mention and they thought that they’d go out and buy some to try..... this of course is unqualified advice as I am not medically trained in any shape or form - unless you want to count my out of date St John’s Ambulance first aid certificate from 1972!
“Why not just take 100 newly diagnosed people with RA, put them on the AIP diet for 6 months and see what happens?”
You make statements like that and wonder why members of this forum are not rushing to you with opens arms - do you really not see how insulting and degrading that statement is?
Because those 100 people are just that, people. People who deserve the benefit that all of the systematic research and medical advances that the rest of us have access to. They are people who deserve all the understanding and compassion that those around them can muster.
Forums like these offer some a place of refuge to find such support when their nearest and dearest just don’t get it or their family get angry and blame the chronic illness sufferer themselves for developing the condition and ‘ruining everything’. Or a family member feels impotent in the face of a life long condition which can’t just be ‘fixed’ so they displace this by being angry and aggressive elsewhere beyond the family home which in itself creates an additional tension/problem to be resolved or ignored as another ‘elephant in the room’.
So you see some of us are not falling at the feet of others who think this is a place to make platitudes that totally disregards the respect and trust that we have in our professional medical advisors. Platitudes that imply that it would be an advancement to take 100 souls and mop them off our sorry floor and feed them a restricted diet for 6 months just to see what will happen - not only that, but the newest and most volunerable ones of our community are the ones to be sacrificed in this way! Curiosity may not have killed the cat but it sure as heck will leave these sacrificial 100 in a debilitating state of pain, fatigue and probably leave in its wake a degree of irreversible bone damage.
Maybe, one day, ‘people’ will be asked if they would be willing to give informed consent to take an active part in a medical research study designed to look at diet and its impact on disease activity in RD patients? A study they can withdraw from at any point if they feel their condition is not benefitting from the diet or is worsening.
Have as good as day as possible peeps! Me? I’m off for my monthly massage and coffee shop trawl 😎
Yes, to run a research study you first have to get agreement from an ethics board. And the position of patients who receive the placebo is always a big issue.
Exactly ... My thoughts are too that these people will likely go so downhill on a restrictive diet and no protection against inflammation and then they are much harder to treat.
Thanks for the post, I won't get involved in the debate. I am usually a sceptic as I have tried many alternative treatments without success; I am going to give CBD oil a try, I hear what you a saying, drug companies are all about profit. I have bought some from Barret and Holland, hopefully it's the right strength.
Interesting discussion. We are all different so different things are going to work for different immune systems. Everything is worth looking at and rubbishing each other isn't going to help.
As someone who tried many alternative treatments with no success before embarking on the conventional methotrexate route which has (at the moment) controlled my RA, I try to keep an open mind.
I feel very lucky to have the current drugs and my rheumatologist team are excellent but I also realise these meds have their own serious body damaging side effects,
I appreciate all posts passing on potential useful treatments even if I don't always believe they are right.
Onwards and upwards - good luck and a release from pain to all members of this amazing online community. Thank you for your endless stream of comfort, advice and helpful suggestions.
The biggest mistake I see people make is that they draw a line in the sand and pick a side.
There is no need.
Medications can bring remission, but it's not guaranteed.
Diet and lifestyle changes can bring remission, but it's not guaranteed.
If you use a combination of the two, you overwhelmingly stack the odds in your favor of achieving remission.
Use Diet and Lifestyle changes instead of Prednisone and NSAIDs to lower systematic inflammation levels and take DMARDS to slow down disease progression while you allow your body to heal the underlying causes of the inflammation.
The end goal should be to avoid medications that make people worse like Steroids, Antibiotics and NSAIDs and use DMARDS to hit the pause button on disease progression while we heal the underlying causes of our problems.
Nobody should have to take DMARDS forever.
Some people have more severe RA symptoms than others. This cannot be a random occurrence.
There are factors they expose themselves to every day which drive symptoms. Remove these factors and symptoms significantly improve.
Remission is not a random event. There are things that can be done to induce remission, but right now not enough is being done to educate people on how they can actively achieve it. This is a big shame and it's something I am going to work very hard to change in the future.
I strongly believe that everyone that gets newly diagnosed with RA can achieve remission within 12 months with a combination of injectable DMARD therapy and lifestyle changes.
Unfortunately, the reality now is that people wait too long for a diagnosis and when they do get diagnosed they get handed a bag full of medications that they are told they'll have to take for a lifetime because there is no cure.
The irony is that the majority of these medications make it impossible to ever achieve remission if taken frequently.
This is a shockingly bad way to treat people. It hurts that more people don't actually see what is going on.
Rather than giving our Healthcare system a pat on the back and praising it, we should all be screaming for reform. They are keeping people sick and millions of people are struggling every day because our Healthcare institutions are not taking a proactive approach to helping people achieve remission.
They don't need to spend any more money to be more effective, they just need to reshape the way they offer Healthcare. The current model is broken.
People don't need more medications. They need information. The information is out there. I urge everyone reading this to go and discover it for yourself:
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
CBD Oil and RA medication
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