What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Tests & Investigations

Conventional Treatment Strategies

Complementary and Alternative Strategies

Structural Strategies

Energy & Psycho-social Therapies

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease, characterised by chronic inflammation and thickening of the synovial lining (membranes around the joints) eventually leading to cartilage destruction. In autoimmune diseases the immune system attacks body cells and tissues as if they were foreign invaders.

Contributing factors are thought to include food allergies, leaky gut syndrome, microbes and hereditary influences.

RA affects approximately 3% of the population, is three times as common in women as it is in men and typically starts during the ages of 20 to 40.

Signs & Symptoms

• Chronic fatigue and weakness
• Low grade fever
• Joint stiffness and pain
• Painful, swollen joints
• Weight loss
• Painful and deformed joints

• Genetic susceptibility.

• Leaky gut syndrome : The healthy bowel provides us with a complex and effective barrier against the thousands of toxins, organisms and foreign molecules that we ingest daily. When this barrier mechanism breaks down undesirable substances penetrate the 'leaky bowel' and are exposed to the body's immune system and in some cases stimulate the body to attack immunologically similar tissues (such as joints).

• Poor diet

• Dysbiosis : Refers to an imbalance and reduction of the good microbes within the bowel wall. These normally help to protect the integrity of the bowel wall, as well as helping to produce key nutrients.

• Persistent stress, triggering hormonal imbalances.

• Infectious agents.