|
About Antibiotic Treatment
The NIH and other health care organizations have sponsored research into the use of antibiotics for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and minocycline has been determined to be a safe and effective option (Minocycline in Rheumatoid Arthritis: a 48 Week, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial, Annals of Internal Medicine, 1995). The minocycline in early diffuse scleroderma study funded by The Road Back Foundation adds scleroderma to the diseases which respond favorably to antibiotic therapy. Completed in February 1997, the results of this one-year study appear in the November 28, 1998 issue of The Lancet.
For many years, remarkable improvements have been reported by patients on antibiotic therapy for rheumatic diseases. For more than a decade, this anecdotal evidence has been supported by a growing body of scientific results, based on laboratory research and a large number of clinical trials. In such leading journals as Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, Arthritis & Rheumatism, Rheumatology and many others, the antibiotic protocol has repeatedly been proven safe and effective in these applications. However, because the patents had already expired on the antibiotics used in these trials, there is no incentive to promote their future use. The Road Back Foundation is dedicated to supplying that missing advocacy through education and outreach to patients and the medical profession about antibiotic treatment for rheumatic conditions. The many patient stories on our web site and elsewhere lend further evidence to the effective use of antibiotic therapy.
G.A.W. ROOK, P.M. LYDYARD, J.L. STANFORD Department of Medical Microbiology, London Medical School. "If the infection hypothesis proves to be correct, treatment of RA will need to be completely revised, and the consequences for the pharmaceutical industry will be enourmous. It could become unethical to use steroids, or agents which block prostaglandin synthesis, as we cannot be sure that they do not promote proliferation of the organism, and so in the long term lead to more severe disease. Instead we will need to devise antibiotic regimens and immunotherapeutic protocols." Ann of Rheum Dis, 1993: 52: S30-S38.
Antibiotic therapy may not bring rapid, dramatic results. It is more common for the return of health to be gradual. Most of us did not get sick overnight; reversing the disease takes time.
Patients with appropriate antibiotic treatment report improvement of the following symptoms: pain, fatigue, stiffness, restricted range of motion, low muscle tone and strength, depression, memory loss, poor appetite, changes in texture of hair, muscle spasms, triggerpoints, bursitis, tendonitis or vasculitis due to inflammation, dry or cracked or tight skin, skin ulcers, swallowing difficulties and heartburn (reflux). Be sure to look at the RBF sponsored Harris Poll posted on our homepage (www.roadback.org) for a survey of patients on antibiotic therapy
TREATMENT must be tailored to the sensitivity of the individual patient's system and such other factors as the severity and duration of the disease or other concurrent infections. Even severe and long-term disease responds to antibiotics. Treatment is long-term, even life time in certain instances. It is a safe, effective treatment, but generally not an immediate cure. However, all approaches to antibiotic therapy share common features.
The late Dr. Thomas McPherson Brown, who pioneered antibiotic therapy for rheumatic disease, treated for a hypersensitivity reaction to an infectious organism. That makes the use of antibiotics in this treatment very different from that used for a bacterial infection.
CONSIDERATIONS
It is especially helpful to your understanding of the treatment and the disease process to read resources such as the book The New Arthritis Breakthrough (see recommended reading under the Education dropdown) and other literature before requesting antibiotic treatment from your doctor.
|
 |
