Sunday, September 28, 2014

One of my other ailments

No today's post is not about my cancers. It is about one of my other ailments - rheumatoid arthritis. This is the ailment that makes my hands and feet hurt and getting out of bed in the morning a bit difficult. As opposed to rheumatoid which makes my whole back hurt or my degenerating disks which resemble an ice pick in my spine when its cranky or my left hip bursitis which also can remember an ice pick. (And I am on all the good drugs.)

The problem with RA is that your body's immune system turns on itself and starts attacking your joints. Currently it can be slowed and controlled by a wide variety of medications available. But it cannot be stopped and will continue to cripple your joints endlessly.

However now there is new research (because we always need more research to keep those researchers busy) which shows a way to possibly halt RA progression. Here is a less technical version and here is a very technical version. Basically there is a TLR gene which has a TLR5 receptor which hangs out with myeloid cells and that is proof that it is a technical topic.

I am just happy to hear there is something which might be able to stop the progression of RA. It is much worse than osteoarthritis which is what most people get from overuse. RA just happens - if you are lucky enough (which apparently I am).

So a perky little glimmer of hope on the RA horizon. Now I hope they can do something with my other ailments too. Go researchers!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you considered trying an autoimmune version of the paleo diet? If you do a goggle search for paleo and RA or autoimmune protocol, you will find a lot of resources. Many people have reported great improvements in their autoimmune diseases (including RA, thyroid, digestive troubles, etc.)

A medical doctor, Dr. Terry Wahl's, even put her MS into remission (and got out of her wheelchair where she had been for several years and returned to walking and even bike riding). She wrote a book that you might find helpful. Robb Wolf's website also has a lot of free information (articles and podcasts) describing how you can improve autoimmune conditions by changing your diet, types of exercise that you do, sleep timing, and stress triggers.

There are many other testimonials and free resources available on the internet, if you search for them.

D's Journey said...

I'm dealing with metastisis in my lungs from cervical cancer and also clear of breast cancer after it being found/treated this spring and also deal with RA. I manage mine thru my diet and have avoided drugs since I was 18, just turned 41...

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