News Article: ARTHRITIS TEST WILL END PAIN FOR MILLIONS

[Maz]

We were alerted to this new research by Rosey (Rosemary) in UK and just thought to post a news link for the interest of everyone here with RA.

ARTHRITIS TEST WILL END PAIN FOR MILLIONS

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/326249/Arthritis-test-will-end-pain-for-millions

“A BREAKTHROUGH for millions of sufferers from arthritis offers hope of an early-detection test which could revolutionise how the condition is treated.

Scientists have found that it can be triggered by simple bacterial changes in our stomachs.

The major discovery should enable doctors to make a diagnosis before the crippling disease has taken its dreadful toll, causing painful and irreversible damage to joints.”

Although this is research has led to this understanding about how RA is triggered, it may be some time before a standardized test is available for early detection (may be important to those next of kin relatives). Nevertheless, research like this confirms the bacterial etiology of RA and may lead to new approaches to treatment that won’t involve killing immune function, but somehow altering the gut ecology of sufferers to regulate immune function. Seems that science is getting closer and closer to realizing that Dr.Brown was way ahead of his time. 🙂

And…another article in TopNews.In with the Chairman of Rheumatology at Mayo Clinic weighing in:

http://www.topnews.in/health/changes-gut-bacteria-may-trigger-diseases-rheumatoid-arthritis-215999

And…Science Daily:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611193342.htm

This is very exciting news – thanks to Rosemary! 😀

[Trudi]

This is very exciting news indeed!!

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[Pauyen]

@Trudi wrote:

This is very exciting news indeed!!

What Trudi said!

Dont want to side track the discussion, but this from TopNews caught my eye “Researchers including one of an Indian origin” … like, is this something unusual ?

Anyway, another small step for human kind.

[Maz]

@Pauyen wrote:

Dont want to side track the discussion, but this from TopNews caught my eye “Researchers including one of an Indian origin” … like, is this something unusual ?

Yea, that kinda piqued my curiousity, too, Paul. 😕

That last line in the Science Daily article really caught my attention:

“The next step for us is to show if bugs in the gut can be manipulated to change the course of disease,” Dr. Taneja says.

In the past, all the conventional literature has said that infections may trigger RA, but that the perpetuation of the disease is basically “idiopathic,” and an immune system gone haywire. The inference of this last statement in the article seems to be that these researchers are going to try to figure out if imbalanced gut ecology is perpetuating the disease and that if they can manipulate them back into balance or block their antigenic activity, then may be able to change the course of disease (as well as avert onset with a new test). Now this is really something! Are we on the verge of researchers confirming Brown’s findings? It would be so great if novel therapies could be developed that could actually block bacterial antigen and stop this process dead in its tracks. They already know that P. gingivalis causes citrullination (hence anti-CCP, the test that picks up our antibodies to this process that is definitive for RA)…but there are probably loads of bugs that cause citrullination.

http://microbemagazine.org/index.php/02-2012-home/4398-infectious-causes-of-chronic-illness-an-overview

Let’s hope, eh?

[Suzy]

Fantastic articles …..everyday seems to bring more light on this subject. I picked up some slightly related articles yesterday and today !

Yesterdays story…..
From Infection To Inflammation To Cancer: Scientists Offer New Clues

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/246523.php

Todays Story….

I think this therapy could have implications for many other conditions. (below)

Resulting treatments could work not just for diseases of the digestive tract, but also for other conditions such as diabetes and Sj

[justsaynoemore]

Thank you Maz, all the Leaky Gutters, everyone on AP, all of us who have been faithful to the theory. Cathy

[jlynne]

Forgive me if this sounds stupid but could it be that the AP therapy is killing all the gut bacteria at each dose and by supplementing with probiotics, it reintroduces the good healthy bacteria to the gut? Continual use of this would mean none of the bad bacteria would have a chance to grow and the gut would eventually become balanced.

Am I way off base here?

[Maz]

@jlynne wrote:

Forgive me if this sounds stupid but could it be that the AP therapy is killing all the gut bacteria at each dose and by supplementing with probiotics, it reintroduces the good healthy bacteria to the gut? Continual use of this would mean none of the bad bacteria would have a chance to grow and the gut would eventually become balanced.

Am I way off base here?

Hi JLynne,

No, not stupid at all! Very insightful! This is exactly what happens, although abx also penetrate tissues throughout the body quite apart from the gut (absorbed through the gut and intravenously) to also target pathogens residing in other tissues. In Brown’s day, it’s interesting to note that he did not use probiotics and some of the old school AP docs, like Dr. S., still do not prescribe probiotics, but they are still have had excellent results. We know a lot more now about long-term gut health and how to prevent candida overgrowth, however, so it’s all still a learning curve and abx protocols have been improved upon since those days. Even Brown acknowledged there was still so much more to learn and that he had only focused on one part of the puzzle. It’s also pretty salient to note that Brown would use multiple classes of abx and that although tetracyclines were the mainstay in most cases, he would sometimes only use a penicillin, for instance, in some folk. It really depended upon what he determined to be the underlying causative pathogens. Lyme doctors are great in this regard, because they use multiple abx and rotate these to ensure no pathogen overgrowth occurs but also to help prevent resistance.

[bonnielou]

This is a great article to bring to your doctor if s/he is reluctant to support AP. I am going to make my husband read this. Thanks Rosey and Maz.

Bonnie Lou
RA 02/07,AP 10/07
Minocycline 200mg MWF; Plaquenil 100mg 3 days/week
Fish Oil, Ubiquinol, Turmeric, Vit C (2 grams) , MultiVit, Magnesium, Astaxanthin, D3 (5000), probiotics and a daily dose of yoga!

[kwlile]

And here is basically the same article directly from the Mayo Clinic:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2012-rst/6933.html

[246bride]

Anyone see this one in the WSJ today?

Gene Map of Body’s Microbes Is New Health Tool
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303410404577464961870114758.html

So are they saying that this info will be helpful in preventing the onset? But what about those of us who already have it?

[Maz]

@246bride wrote:

So are they saying that this info will be helpful in preventing the onset? But what about those of us who already have it?

Very good point, 246Bride! Really, this study is no different from all the others that have tied RA to microbes in the past…and there have been countless ones. Maybe the one shining light in the whole article was this:

“The next step for us is to show if bugs in the gut can be manipulated to change the course of disease,” Dr. Taneja says.

If physician/researchers at a top medical research institution are acknowledging that (a) bugs trigger the disease and (b) perpetuate it, then (c) they can figure out ways to manipulate gut bugs to avert it starting (with their proposed test) and also “change the course of the disease” once it starts. So, in a way, this is an acknowledgment that bugs start and perpetuate the disease process…not just start it, as has always been what the conventional literature has stated.

It’s like any test, though….they would actually have to use it for it to of any worth and it’s doubtful that with only 1 in 100 getting RA that they would test whole populations. Gut ecology isn’t a static thing either…it changes over time. So who is to say that a test 10 years prior to disease onset will be positive? It’s not likely they’d repeat any test for whole populations over and over to weed out the few.

I don’t hold much faith in a “test,” which is where researchers are likely currently setting their sights in terms of $$$. However, just acknowledging that bugs are the problem in RA is a positive step forward. Hmmm…it’s only taken…what?…since the 1930s?

[Lynne G.SD]

Do any of you who have used meds to control Gerd have that sinking feeling that we may have just magnified the problem.Stomach acid prevents unwanted bugs from entering our systems,low acid just may let some little beggars in the front door….so to speak.I wonder if there is any research in that direction.

[Maz]

For anyone with the time and interest to read it, here is the original study in the PLOSOne online journal:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0036095

It is highly interesting to read about the male/female differences in gut microbiota and what drives the immune system’s inflammatory response. Also, study authors note their ideas for altering gut balance, although no mention is made of lowering pathogenic species with appropriate anti-microbials:

“The hypotheses proposed herein (Figure 7), could be tested in future studies through experimentation with germ-free and SPF mice using various ways to manipulate gut microbiome and measure its impact in triggering disease. These approaches may include administration of probiotics which have been shown to alter intestinal microbiota and immune response and suppress CIA [49], [50].”

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