Blog

Read Carol Lange’s personal and very detailed description of a rheumatoid flare; what happens physically inside and outside the body; what happens to the emotions and the capacity to fully engage with life and loved ones at a time of unpredictability, fear and the need to survive. Written to help patients develop a greater sense of self and… Read more »

In this second installment on Reactive Arthritis, Katherine Poehlmann, PhD, outlines potential triggers, the immune response, and resultant chemical imbalances. She discusses approaches to help combat inflammation, including hyaluronic acid in injectable form, supplements, and natural foods. She writes about the beneficial actions of ascorbic acid, dietary approaches to healing, and clinics recognized as centers of excellence in… Read more »

Katherine Poehlmann, PhD, discusses the causes and treatments of Reactive Arthritis in this first installment of a two-part series. The second installment, to be published in early January, will present nutritional methods to deal with Reactive Arthritis. Katherine, who has been a director of Road Back Foundation since 2012, continues to study infectious causes of RA and other inflammatory conditions, and has… Read more »

Does your child have seropositive juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), also known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)? JRA is such a devastating, crippling disease, but have you wondered how your previously healthy child could have suddenly become so ill and if antibiotic therapy could really be a valid treatment? A study, published earlier this year by BioMed Central in the online medical… Read more »

The prevalence of thyroid disease in rheumatic disease patients has been found in one study to be twice as common than in otherwise healthy individuals and malfunction of this gland can blur the rheumatic diagnostic and treatment picture significantly. This prevalence means that one quarter of rheumatic patients may be affected, because according to The American Thyroid Association,… Read more »

Experts believe that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be the result of a combination of risk factors, including genetics, environment and other co-factors, such as gender, hormones and stress. In the following article, Katherine Poehlmann, PhD, shares her views on the effects of joint trauma as one possible RA trigger and antibiotic therapy as a targeted treatment option.  … Read more »

Rheumatic diseases affect women three times more often than men and innovative Stanford research points to gender-specific genetic switches playing a role in this disparate prevalence. A new technology for studying the body’s system for switching genes on and off reveals that genes associated with the immune system switch on and off more frequently, and these genes… Read more »

Rheumatic patients often find inflammation decreases after eliminating gluten. The existence of gluten sensitivity has been debated for many years due to the lack of a definitive testing method for a non-celiac form. However, more clarity on this issue could arise as the result of a presentation at the 23rd United European Gastroenterology Week in Barcelona, Spain, given by a research team… Read more »

Psittacosis, a rare form of chlamydial infection, was found to be the trigger for one woman’s debilitating arthritis. Very occasionally, a rheumatic patient will contact Road Back Foundation (RBF) with a curious story to tell.  Alma had suffered with arthritic pain from the age of sixteen and was later diagnosed with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis on the basis of her clinical presentation that included an elevated rheumatoid factor. Her… Read more »

Reports that the cost of sixty capsules of Minocin, the original brand of minocycline, has risen to $3000 in the United States has been cause for serious concern for rheumatic patients who depend on this medication as a core therapy. Minocin is a second generation tetracycline that was synthesized in 1967 by Lederle Laboratories, was FDA approved in 1971, and… Read more »