Painful Debilitating Disease More Devastating than Previously Recognized

Total video length: 17:45
Download Interview Transcript

Total video length: 7:51

By Dr. Mercola

Rheumatoid arthritis affects about 1 percent of our population and at least two million Americans have definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis. This number has increased in recent years, as in 2010 about 2.5 percent of white women developed RA.

It is a much more devastating illness than previously appreciated. Most patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a progressive disability.

The natural course of rheumatoid arthritis is quite remarkable in that less than 1 percent of people with the disease have a spontaneous remission. Some disability occurs in 50-70 percent of people within five years after onset of the disease, and half will stop working within 10 years. The annual cost of this disease in the U.S. is estimated to be over $1 billion.

This devastating prognosis is what makes this novel form of treatment so exciting, as it has a far higher likelihood of succeeding than the conventional approach.

Over the years I have treated over 3,000 patients with rheumatic illnesses, including SLE, scleroderma, polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

Approximately 15 percent of these patients were lost to follow-up for whatever reason and have not continued with treatment. The remaining patients seem to have a 60-90 percent likelihood of improvement on this treatment regimen.

This level of improvement is quite a stark contrast to the typical numbers quoted above that are experienced with conventional approaches, and certainly a strong motivation to try the protocol I discuss below.

RA Can Be More Deadly than Heart Disease

There is also an increased mortality rate with this disease. The five-year survival rate of patients with more than thirty joints involved is approximately 50 percent. This is similar to severe coronary artery disease or stage IV Hodgkin's disease.

Thirty years ago, one researcher concluded that there was an average loss of 18 years of life in patients who developed rheumatoid arthritis before the age of 50.

Most authorities believe that remissions rarely occur. Some experts feel that the term "remission-inducing" should not be used to describe ANY current rheumatoid arthritis treatment, and a review of contemporary treatment methods shows that medical science has not been able to significantly improve the long-term outcome of this disease.

Dr. Brown Pioneered a Novel Approach to Treat RA

I first became aware of Doctor Brown's protocol in 1989 when I saw him on 20/20 on ABC. This was shortly after the introduction of his first edition of his book, The Road Back. Unfortunately, Dr. Brown died from prostate cancer shortly after the 20/20 program so I never had a chance to meet him.

My application of Dr. Brown's protocol has changed significantly since I first started implementing it. Initially, I rigidly followed Dr. Brown's work with minimal modifications to his protocol. About the only change I made was changing Tetracycline to Minocin. I believe I was one of the first physicians who recommended the shift to Minocin and most people who use his protocol now use Minocin.

In 1939, Dr. Sabin, the discoverer of the polio vaccine, first reported chronic arthritis in mice caused by a mycoplasma. He suggested this agent might cause human rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Brown worked with Dr. Sabin at the Rockefeller Institute.

Dr. Brown was a board certified rheumatologist who graduated from Johns Hopkins medical school. He was a professor of medicine at George Washington University until 1970 where he served as chairman of the Arthritis Institute in Arlington, Virginia. He published over 100 papers in peer reviewed scientific literature.

He was able to help over 10,000 patients when he used this program, from the 1950s until his death in 1989, and clearly far more than that have been helped by other physicians using this protocol.

He found that significant benefits from the treatment require, on average, about one to two years.

I have treated nearly 3000 patients and find that the dietary modification I advocate, which I started to integrate in the early 1990's, accelerates the response rate to several months. I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of this aspect of the program.

Still, the length of therapy can vary widely.

In severe cases, it may take up to 30 months for patients to gain sustained improvement. One requires patience because remissions may take up to 3 to 5 years. Dr. Brown's pioneering approach represents a safer, less toxic alternative to many conventional regimens and results of the NIH trial have finally scientifically validated this treatment.

The dietary changes are absolutely an essential component of my protocol. Dr. Brown's original protocol was notorious for inducing a Herxheimer, or worsening of symptoms, before improvement was noted. This could last two to six months. Implementing my nutrition plan resulted in a lessening of that reaction in most cases.

When I first started using his protocol for patients in the late '80s, the common retort from other physicians was that there was "no scientific proof" that this treatment worked. Well, that is certainly not true today. A review of the bibliography will provide over 200 references in the peer-reviewed medical literature that supports the application of Minocin in the use of rheumatic illnesses.

In my experience, nearly 80 percent of people do remarkably better with this program. However, approximately 5 percent continue to worsen and require conventional agents, like methotrexate, to relieve their symptoms.

Scientific Proof for this Approach

The definitive scientific support for minocycline in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis came with the MIRA trial in the United States. This was a double blind randomized placebo controlled trial done at six university centers involving 200 patients for nearly one year. The dosage they used (100 mg twice daily) was much higher and likely less effective than what most clinicians currently use.

They also did not employ any additional antibiotics or nutritional regimens, yet 55 percent of patients improved. This study finally provided the "proof" that many traditional clinicians demanded before seriously considering this treatment as an alternative regimen for rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr. Thomas Brown's effort to treat the chronic mycoplasma infections believed to cause rheumatoid arthritis is the basis for this therapy. Dr. Brown believed that most rheumatic illnesses respond to this treatment. He and others used this therapy for SLE, ankylosing spondylitis, scleroderma, dermatomyositis and polymyositis.

Dr. Osler was one of the most well respected and prominent physicians of his time (1849- 1919), and many regard him as the consummate physician of modern times. An excerpt from a commentary on Dr. William Osler provides a useful perspective on application of alternative medical paradigms:

Osler would caution us against the arrogance of believing that only our current medical practices can benefit the patient. He would realize that new scientific insights might emerge from as yet unproved beliefs. Although he would fight vigorously to protect the public against frauds and charlatans, he would encourage critical study of whatever therapeutic approaches were reliably reported to be beneficial to patients.

Factors Associated with Your Success on this Program

There are many variables associated with an increased chance of remission or improvement.

• The younger you are, the greater your chance for improvement
• The more closely you follow the nutrition plan, the more likely you are to improve and the less likely you are to have a severe flare-up. I now offer the Nutritional Typing Test for free, so please do not skip this essential step.
• Smoking seems to be negatively associated with improvement
• The longer you have had the illness and the more severe the illness, the more difficult it seems to treat

Revised Antibiotic-Free Approach

Although I used a revision of his antibiotic approach for nearly ten years, my particular prejudice is to focus on natural therapies. The program that follows is my revision of this protocol that allows for a completely drug-free treatment of RA, which is based on my experience of treating over 3000 patients with rheumatic illnesses in my Chicago clinic.

If you are interested in reviewing or considering Dr. Brown's antibiotic approach, I have included a summary of his work and the evidence for it in the appendix.

Crucial Lifestyle Changes

Improving your diet using a combination of my nutritional guidelines, nutritional typing is crucial for your success. In addition, there are some general principles that seem to hold true for all nutritional types and these include:

• Eliminating sugar, especially fructose, and most grains. For most people it would be best to limit fruit to small quantities
• Eating unprocessed, high-quality foods, organic and locally grown if possible
• Eating your food as close to raw as possible
• Getting plenty high-quality animal-based omega-3 fats. Krill oil seems to be particularly helpful here as it appears to be a more effective anti inflammatory preparation. It is particularly effective if taken concurrently with 4 mg of Astaxanthin, which is a potent antioxidant bioflavanoid derived from algae
• Astaxanthin at 4 mg per day is particularly important for anyone placed on prednisone as Astaxanthin offers potent protection against cataracts and age related macular degeneration
• Incorporating regular exercise into your daily schedule

Early Emotional Traumas are Pervasive in Those with RA

With the vast majority of the patients I treated, some type of emotional trauma occurred early in their life, before the age their conscious mind was formed, which is typically around the age of 5 or 6. However, a trauma can occur at any age, and has a profoundly negative impact.

If that specific emotional insult is not addressed with an effective treatment modality then the underlying emotional trigger will continue to fester, allowing the destructive process to proceed, which can predispose you to severe autoimmune diseases like RA later in life.

In some cases, RA appears to be caused by an infection, and it is my experience that this infection is usually acquired when you have a stressful event that causes a disruption in your bioelectrical circuits, which then impairs your immune system.

This early emotional trauma predisposes you to developing the initial infection, and also contributes to your relative inability to effectively defeat the infection.

Therefore, it's very important to have an effective tool to address these underlying emotional traumas. In my practice, the most common form of treatment used is called the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

Although EFT is something that you can learn to do yourself in the comfort of your own home, it is important to consult a well-trained professional to obtain the skills necessary to promote proper healing using this amazing tool.

Vitamin D Deficiency Rampant in Those with RA

The early part of the 21^st century brought enormous attention to the importance and value of vitamin D, particularly in the treatment of autoimmune diseases like RA.

From my perspective, it is now virtually criminal negligent malpractice to treat a person with RA and not aggressively monitor their vitamin D levels to confirm that they are in a therapeutic range of 65-80 ng/ml.

This is so important that blood tests need to be done every two weeks, so the dose can be adjusted to get into that range. Most normal-weight adults should start at 10,000 units of vitamin D per day.

If you are in the US, then Lab Corp is the lab of choice as Quest labs provide results that are falsely elevated. If you choose to use Quest you need to multiply your result by 0.70 to obtain the right number.

For more detailed information on vitamin D you can review my vitamin D resource page.

Low Dose Naltrexone

One new addition to the protocol is low-dose Naltrexone, which I would encourage anyone with RA to try. It is inexpensive and non-toxic and I have a number of physician reports documenting incredible efficacy in getting people off of all their dangerous arthritis meds.

Although this is a drug, and strictly speaking not a natural therapy, it has provided important relief and is FAR safer than the toxic drugs that are typically used by nearly all rheumatologists.

Nutritional Considerations

Limiting sugar is a critical element of the treatment program. Sugar has multiple significant negative influences on your biochemistry. First and foremost, it increases your insulin levels, which is the root cause of nearly all chronic disease. It can also impair your gut bacteria.

In my experience if you are unable to decrease your sugar intake, you are far less likely to improve. Please understand that the number one source of calories in the US is high fructose corn syrup from drinking soda. One of the first steps you can take is to phase out all soda, and replace it with pure, clean water.

Exercise for Rheumatoid Arthritis

It is very important to exercise and increase muscle tone of your non-weight bearing joints. Experts tell us that disuse results in muscle atrophy and weakness. Additionally, immobility may result in joint contractures and loss of range of motion (ROM). Active ROM exercises are preferred to passive.

There is some evidence that passive ROM exercises increase the number of white blood cells (WBCs) in your joints.

If your joints are stiff, you should stretch and apply heat before exercising. If your joints are swollen, application of ten minutes of ice before exercise would be helpful.

The inflamed joint is very vulnerable to damage from improper exercise, so you must be cautious. People with arthritis must strike a delicate balance between rest and activity, and must avoid activities that aggravate joint pain. You should avoid any exercise that strains a significantly unstable joint.

A good rule of thumb is that if the pain lasts longer than one hour after stopping exercise, you should slow down or choose another form of exercise. Assistive devices are also helpful to decrease the pressure on affected joints. Many patients need to be urged to take advantage of these. The Arthritis Foundation has a book, Guide to Independent Living, which instructs patients about how to obtain them.

Of course, it is important to maintain good cardiovascular fitness as well. Walking with appropriate supportive shoes is another important consideration.

If your condition allows, it would be wise to move towards a Peak Fitness program that is designed for reaching optimal health.

It's Important to Control Your Pain

One of the primary problems with RA is controlling pain. The conventional treatment typically includes using very dangerous drugs like prednisone, methotrexate, and drugs that interfere with tumor necrosis factor, like Enbrel.

The goal is to implement the lifestyle changes discussed above as quickly as possible, so you can start to reduce these toxic and dangerous drugs, which do absolutely nothing to treat the cause of the disease.

However pain relief is obviously very important, and if this is not achieved, you can go into a depressive cycle that can clearly worsen your immune system and cause the RA to flare.

So the goal is to be as comfortable and pain free as possible with the least amount of drugs.The Mayo Clinic offers several common sense guidelines for avoiding pain by paying heed to how you move, so as to not injure your joints.

Safest Anti-Inflammatories to Use for Pain

Clearly the safest prescription drugs to use for pain are the non-acetylated salicylates such as:

• Salsalate
• Sodium salicylate
• Magnesium salicylate (i.e., Salflex, Disalcid, or Trilisate).

They are the drugs of choice if there is renal insufficiency as they minimally interfere with anticyclooxygenase and other prostaglandins.

Additionally, they will not impair platelet inhibition in those patients who are on an every-other-day aspirin regimen to decrease their risk for stroke or heart disease.

Unlike aspirin, they do not increase the formation of products of lipoxygenase-mediated metabolism of arachidonic acid. For this reason, they may be less likely to cause hypersensitivity reactions. These drugs have been safely used in patients with reversible obstructive airway disease and a history of aspirin sensitivity.

They are also much gentler on your stomach than the other NSAIDs and are the drug of choice if you have problems with peptic ulcer disease. Unfortunately, all these benefits are balanced by the fact they may not be as effective as the other agents and are less convenient to take. You need to take 1.5-2 grams twice a day, and tinnitus, or ringing in your ear, is a frequent side effect.

You need to be aware of this complication and know that if tinnitus does develop, you need to stop the drugs for a day and restart with a dose that is half a pill per day lower. You can repeat this until you find a dose that relieves your pain and doesn't cause any ringing in your ears.

If the Safer Anti-Inflammatories aren't Helping, Try This Next…

If the non-acetylated salicylates aren't helping there are many different NSAIDs to try. Relafen, Daypro, Voltaren, Motrin, Naprosyn. Meclomen, Indocin, Orudis, and Tolectin are among the most toxic or likely to cause complications. You can experiment with them, and see which one works best for you.

If cost is a concern, generic ibuprofen can be used at up to 800 mg per dose. Unfortunately, recent studies suggest this drug is more damaging to your kidneys.

If you use any of the above drugs, though, it is really important to make sure you take them with your largest meal as this will somewhat moderate their GI toxicity and the likelihood of causing an ulcer.

Please beware that they are much more dangerous than the antibiotics or non-acetylated salicylates.

You should have an SMA blood test performed at least once a year if you are on these medications. In addition, you must monitor your serum potassium levels if you are on an ACE inhibitor as these medications can cause high potassium levels. You should also monitor your kidney function. The SMA will show any liver impairment the drugs might be causing.

These medications can also impair prostaglandin metabolism and cause papillary necrosis and chronic interstitial nephritis. Your kidney needs vasodilatory prostaglandins (PGE2 and prostacycline) to counterbalance the effects of potent vasoconstrictor hormones such as angiotensin II and catecholamines. NSAIDs decrease prostaglandin synthesis by inhibiting cyclooxygenase, leading to unopposed constriction of the renal arterioles supplying your kidney.

Warning: These Drugs Massively Increase Your Risk for Ulcers

The first non-aspirin NSAID, indomethacin, was introduced in 1963. Now more than 30 are available. Relafen is one of the better alternatives as it seems to cause less of an intestinal dysbiosis. You must be especially careful to monitor renal function periodically. It is important to understand and accept the risks associated with these more toxic drugs.

Every year, they do enough damage to the GI tract to kill 2,000 to 4,000 people with rheumatoid arthritis alone. That is ten peopleEVERY DAY. At any given time, 10 to 20 percent of all those receiving NSAID therapy have gastric ulcers.

If you are taking an NSAID, you are at approximately three times greater risk for developing serious gastrointestinal side effects than those who don't.

Approximately 1.2 percent of patients taking NSAIDs are hospitalized for upper GI problems, per year of exposure. One study of patients taking NSAIDs showed that a life-threatening complication was the first sign of ulcer in more than half of the subjects.

Researchers found that the drugs suppress production of prostacyclin, which is needed to dilate blood vessels and inhibit clotting. Earlier studies had found that mice genetically engineered to be unable to use prostacyclin properly were prone to clotting disorders.

Anyone who is at increased risk of cardiovascular disease should steer clear of these medications. Ulcer complications are certainly potentially life-threatening, but, heart attacks are a much more common and likely risk, especially in older individuals.

How You Can Tell if You are at Risk for NSAID Side Effects

Risk factor analysis can help determine if you will face an increased danger of developing these complications. If you have any of the following, you will likely to have a higher risk of side effects from these drugs:

1. Old age
2. Peptic ulcer history
3. Alcohol dependency
4. Cigarette smoking
5. Concurrent prednisone or corticosteroid use
6. Disability
7. Taking a high dose of the NSAID
8. Using an NSAID known to be more toxic

Prednisone

The above drug class are called non steroidal anti inflammatories (NSAIDs). If they are unable to control the pain, then prednisone is nearly universally used. This is a steroid drug that is loaded with side effects.

If you are on large doses of prednisone for extended periods of time, you can be virtually assured that you will develop the following problems:

• Osteoporosis
• Cataracts
• Diabetes
• Ulcers
• Herpes reactivation
• Insomnia
• Hypertension
• Kidney stones

You can be virtually assured that every time you take a dose of prednisone your bones are becoming weaker. The higher the dose and the longer you are on prednisone, the more likely you are to develop the problems.

However, if you are able to keep your dose to 5 mg or below, this is not typically a major issue.

Typically this is one of the first medicines you should try to stop as soon as your symptoms permit.

Beware that blood levels of cortisol peak between 3 and 9am. It would, therefore, be safest to administer the prednisone in the morning. This will minimize the suppression on your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

You also need to be concerned about the increased risk of peptic ulcer disease when using this medicine with conventional non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. If you are taking both of these medicines, you have a 15 times greater risk of developing an ulcer!

If you are already on prednisone, it is helpful to get a prescription for 1 mg tablets so you can wean yourself off the prednisone as soon as possible. Usually you can lower your dose by about 1 mg per week. If a relapse of your symptoms occurs, then further reduction of the prednisone is not indicated.

How Do You Know When to Stop the Drugs?

Unlike conventional approaches to RA, my protocol is designed to treat the underlying cause of the problem. So eventually the drugs that you are going to use during the program will be weaned off.

The following criteria can help determine when you are in remission and can consider weaning off your medications: *

• A decrease in duration of morning stiffness to no more than 15 minutes
• No pain at rest
• Little or no pain or tenderness on motion
• Absence of joint swelling
• A normal energy level
• A decrease in your ESR to no more than 30
• A normalization of your CBC. Generally your HGB, HCT, & MCV will increase to normal and your "pseudo"-iron deficiency will disappear
• ANA, RF, & ASO titers returning to normal

If you discontinue your medications before all of the above criteria are met, there is a greater risk that the disease will recur.

If you meet the above criteria, you can try to wean off your anti-inflammatory medication and monitor for flare-ups. If no flare-ups occur for six months, then discontinue the clindamycin.

If the improvements are maintained for the next six months, you can then discontinue your Minocin and monitor for recurrences. If symptoms should recur, it would be wise to restart the previous antibiotic regimen.

Evaluation to Determine and Follow RA

If you have received evaluations and treatment by one or more board certified rheumatologists, you can be very confident that the appropriate evaluation was done. Although conventional treatments fail miserably in the long run, the conventional diagnostic approach is typically excellent, and you can start the treatment program discussed above.

If you have not been evaluated by a specialist then it will be important to be properly evaluated to determine if indeed you have rheumatoid arthritis.

Please be sure and carefully review Appendix Two, as you will want to confirm that fibromyalgia is not present.

Beware that arthritic pain can be an early manifestation of 20-30 different clinical problems.

These include not only rheumatic disease, but also metabolic, infectious and malignant disorders. Rheumatoid arthritis is a clinical diagnosis for which there is not a single test or group of laboratory tests which can be considered confirmatory.

Criteria for Classification of Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Morning Stiffness - Morning stiffness in and around joints lasting at least one hour before maximal improvement is noted.
• Arthritis of three or more joint areas - At least three joint areas have simultaneously had soft-tissue swelling or fluid (not bony overgrowth) observed by a physician. There are 14 possible joints: right or left PIP, MCP, wrist, elbow, knee, ankle, and MTP joints.
• Arthritis of hand joints - At least one joint area swollen as above in a wrist, MCP, or PIP joint.
• Symmetric arthritis - Simultaneous involvement of the same joint areas (as in criterion 2) on both sides of your body (bilateral involvement of PIPs, MCPs, or MTPs) is acceptable without absolute symmetry. Lack of symmetry is not sufficient to rule out the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.
• Rheumatoid Nodules - Subcutaneous nodules over bony prominences, or extensor surfaces, or in juxta-articular regions, observed by a physician. Only about 25 percent of patients with rheumatoid arthritis develop nodules, and usually as a later manifestation.
• Serum Rheumatoid Factor - Demonstration of abnormal amounts of serum rheumatoid factor by any method that has been positive in less than 5 percent of normal control subjects. This test is positive only 30-40 percent of the time in the early months of rheumatoid arthritis.

You must also make certain that the first four symptoms listed in the table above are present for six or more weeks. These criteria have a 91-94 percent sensitivity and 89 percent specificity for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.

However, these criteria were designed for classification and not for diagnosis. The diagnosis must be made on clinical grounds. It is important to note that many patients with negative serologic tests can have a strong clinical picture for rheumatoid arthritis.

Your Hands are the KEY to the Diagnosis of RA

In a way, the hands are the calling card of rheumatoid arthritis. If you completely lack hand and wrist involvement, even by history, the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis is doubtful. Rheumatoid arthritis rarely affects your hips and ankles early in its course.

The metacarpophalangeal joints, proximal interphalangeal and wrist joints are the first joints to become symptomatic. Osteoarthritis typically affects the joints that are closest to your fingertips (DIP joints) while RA typically affects the joints closest to your wrist (PIP), like your knuckles.

Fatigue may be present before your joint symptoms begin, and morning stiffness is a sensitive indicator of rheumatoid arthritis. An increase in fluid in and around your joint probably causes the stiffness. Your joints are warm, but your skin is rarely red.

When your joints develop effusions, hold them flexed at 5 to 20 degrees as it is likely going to be too painful to extend them fully.

Radiological Changes

Radiological changes typical of rheumatoid arthritis on PA hand and wrist X-rays, which must include erosions or unequivocal bony decalcification localized to, or most marked, adjacent to the involved joints (osteoarthritic changes alone do not count).

Note: You must satisfy at least four of the seven criteria listed. Any of criteria 1-4 must have been present for at least 6 weeks. Patients with two clinical diagnoses are not excluded. Designations as classic, definite, or probable rheumatoid arthritis, are not to be made.

Laboratory Evaluation

The general initial laboratory evaluation should include a baseline ESR, CBC, SMA, U/A, 25 hydroxy D level and an ASO titer. You can also draw RF and ANA titers to further objectively document improvement with the therapy. However, they seldom add much to the assessment.

Follow-up visits can be every two to four months depending on the extent of the disease and ease of testing.

The exception here would be vitamin D testing which should be done every two weeks until your 25 hydroxy D level is between 65 and 80 ng/ml.

Many patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a hypochromic, microcytic CBC that appears very similar to iron deficiency, but it is not at all related. This is probably due to the inflammation in the rheumatoid arthritis impairing optimal bone marrow utilization of iron.

It is important to note that this type of anemia does NOT respond to iron and if you are put on iron you will get worse, as the iron is a very potent oxidative stress. Ferritin levels are generally the most reliable indicator of total iron body stores. Unfortunately it is also an acute phase reactant protein and will be elevated anytime the ESR is elevated. This makes ferritin an unreliable test in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

APPENDIX ONE: The Infectious Cause of Rheumatoid Arthritis

It is quite clear that autoimmunity plays a major role in the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Most rheumatology investigators believe that an infectious agent causes rheumatoid arthritis. There is little agreement as to the involved organism, however.

Investigators have proposed the following infectious agents:

• Human T-cell lymphotropic virus Type I
• Rubella virus
• Cytomegalovirus
• Herpesvirus
• Mycoplasma

This review will focus on the evidence supporting the hypothesis that mycoplasma is a common etiologic agent of rheumatoid arthritis.

Mycoplasmas are the smallest self-replicating prokaryotes. They differ from classical bacteria by lacking rigid cell wall structures and are the smallest known organisms capable of extracellular existence. They are considered to be parasites of humans, animals, and plants.

Culturing Mycoplasmas from Joints

Mycoplasmas have limited biosynthetic capabilities and are very difficult to culture and grow from synovial tissues. They require complex growth media or a close parasitic relation with animal cells. This contributed to many investigators failure to isolate them from arthritic tissue.

In reactive arthritis, immune complexes rather than viable organisms localize in your joints. The infectious agent is actually present at another site. Some investigators believe that the organism binding in the immune complex contributes to the difficulty in obtaining positive mycoplasma cultures.

Despite this difficulty, some researchers have successfully isolated mycoplasma from synovial tissues of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. A British group used a leucocyte-migration inhibition test and found two-thirds of their rheumatoid arthritis patients to be infected with Mycoplasma fermentens. These results are impressive since they did not include more prevalent Mycoplasma strains like M salivarium, M ovale, M hominis, and M pneumonia.

One Finnish investigator reported a 100 percent incidence of isolation of mycoplasma from 27 rheumatoid synovia using a modified culture technique. None of the non- rheumatoid tissue yielded any mycoplasmas.

The same investigator used an indirect hemagglutination technique and reported mycoplasma antibodies in 53 percent of patients with definite rheumatoid arthritis. Using similar techniques other investigators have cultured mycoplasma in 80-100 percent of their rheumatoid arthritis test population.

Rheumatoid arthritis can also follow some mycoplasma respiratory infections.

One study of over 1000 patients was able to identify arthritis in nearly 1 percent of the patients. These infections can be associated with a positive rheumatoid factor. This provides additional support for mycoplasma as an etiologic agent for rheumatoid arthritis. Human genital mycoplasma infections have also caused septic arthritis.

Harvard investigators were able to culture mycoplasma or a similar organism, ureaplasma urealyticum, from 63 percent of female patients with SLE and only 4 percent of patients with CFS. The researchers chose CFS, as these patients shared similar symptoms as those with SLE, such as fatigue, arthralgias, and myalgias.

Animal Evidence for the Protocol

The full spectrum of human rheumatoid arthritis immune responses (lymphokine production, altered lymphocyte reactivity, immune complex deposition, cell-mediated immunity and development of autoimmune reactions) occurs in mycoplasma induced animal arthritis.

Investigators have implicated at least 31 different mycoplasma species.

Mycoplasma can produce experimental arthritis in animals from three days to months later. The time seems to depend on the dose given, and the virulence of the organism.

There is a close degree of similarity between these infections and those of human rheumatoid arthritis.

Mycoplasmas cause arthritis in animals by several mechanisms. They either directly multiply within the joint or initiate an intense local immune response.

Arthritogenic mycoplasmas also cause joint inflammation in animals by several mechanisms. They induce nonspecific lymphocyte cytotoxicity and antilymphocyte antibodies as well as rheumatoid factor.

Mycoplasma clearly causes chronic arthritis in mice, rats, fowl, swine, sheep, goats, cattle and rabbits. The arthritis appears to be the direct result of joint infection with culturable mycoplasma organisms.

Gorillas have tissue reactions closer to man than any other animal, and investigators have shown that mycoplasma can precipitate a rheumatic illness in gorillas. One study demonstrated that mycoplasma antigens do occur in immune complexes in great apes.

The human and gorilla IgG are very similar and express nearly identical rheumatoid factors (IgM anti-IgG antibodies). The study showed that when mycoplasma binds to IgG it can cause a conformational change. This conformational change results in an anti-IgG antibody, which can then stimulate an autoimmune response.

The Science of Why Minocycline is Used

If mycoplasma were a causative factor in rheumatoid arthritis, one would expect tetracycline type drugs to provide some sort of improvement in the disease. Collagenase activity increases in rheumatoid arthritis and probably has a role in its cause.

Investigators have demonstrated that tetracycline and minocycline inhibit leukocyte, macrophage, and synovial collagenase.

There are several other aspects of tetracyclines that may play a role in rheumatoid arthritis. Investigators have shown minocycline and tetracycline to retard excessive connective tissue breakdown and bone resorption, while doxycycline inhibits digestion of human cartilage.

It is also possible that tetracycline treatment improves rheumatic illness by reducing delayed-type hypersensitivity response. Minocycline and doxycycline both inhibit phosolipases which are considered proinflammatory and capable of inducing synovitis.

Minocycline is a more potent antibiotic than tetracycline and penetrates tissues better.

These characteristics shifted the treatment of rheumatic illness away from tetracycline to minocycline. Minocycline may benefit rheumatoid arthritis patients through its immunomodulating and immunosuppressive properties. In vitro studies have demonstrated a decreased neutrophil production of reactive oxygen intermediates along with diminished neutrophil chemotaxis and phagocytosis.

Minocycline has also been shown to reduce the incidence and severity of synovitis in animal models of arthritis. The improvement was independent of minocycline's effect on collagenase. Minocycline has also been shown to increase intracellular calcium concentrations that inhibit T-cells.

Individuals with the Class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) DR4 allele seem to be predisposed to developing rheumatoid arthritis.

The infectious agent probably interacts with this specific antigen in some way to precipitate rheumatoid arthritis. There is strong support for the role of T cells in this interaction.

So minocycline may suppress rheumatoid arthritis by altering T cell calcium flux and the expression of T cell derived from collagen binding protein. Minocycline produced a suppression of the delayed hypersensitivity in patients with Reiter's syndrome, and investigators also successfully used minocycline to treat the arthritis and early morning stiffness of Reiter's syndrome.

Clinical Studies

In 1970, investigators at Boston University conducted a small, randomized placebo-controlled trial to determine if tetracycline would treat rheumatoid arthritis. They used 250 mg of tetracycline a day.

Their study showed no improvement after one year of tetracycline treatment. Several factors could explain their inability to demonstrate any benefits.

Their study used only 27 patients for a one-year trial, and only 12 received tetracycline, so noncompliance may have been a factor. Additionally, none of the patients had severe arthritis. Patients were excluded from the trial if they were on any anti-remittive therapy.

Finnish investigators used lymecycline to treat the reactive arthritis in Chlamydia trachomatous infections. Their study compared the effect of the medication in patients with two other reactive arthritis infections: Yersinia and Campylobacter.

Lymecyline produced a shorter course of illness in the Chlamydia induced arthritis patients, but did not affect the other enteric infections-associated reactive arthritis. The investigators later published findings that suggested lymecycline achieved its effect through non-antimicrobial actions. They speculated it worked by preventing the oxidative activation of collagenase.

The first trial of minocycline for the treatment of animal and human rheumatoid arthritis was published by Breedveld. In the first published human trial, Breedveld treated ten patients in an open study for 16 weeks. He used a very high dose of 400 mg per day. Most patients had vestibular side effects resulting from this dose.

However, all patients showed benefit from the treatment, and all variables of efficacy were significantly improved at the end of the trial.

Breedveld expanded on his initial study and later observed similar impressive results. This was a 26-week double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial with minocycline for 80 patients. They were given 200 mg twice a day.

The Ritchie articular index and the number of swollen joints significantly improved (p <>

Investigators in Israel studied 18 patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis for 48 weeks.

These patients had failed two other DMARD. They were taken off all DMARD agents and given minocycline 100 mg twice a day. Six patients did not complete the study -- three withdrew because of lack of improvement, and three had side effects of vertigo or leukopenia.

All patients completing the study improved. Three had complete remission, three had substantial improvement of greater than 50 percent, and six had moderate improvement of 25 percent in the number of active joints and morning stiffness.

APPENDIX TWO: Make Certain You are Assessed for Fibromyalgia

You need to be very sensitive to this condition when you have rheumatoid arthritis as it is frequently a complicating condition. Many times, the pain will be confused with a flare-up of the RA.

You need to aggressively treat this problem. If it is ignored, the likelihood of successfully treating the arthritis is significantly diminished.

Fibromyalgia is a very common problem. Some experts believe that 5 percent of people are affected with it. Over 12 percent of the patients at the Mayo Clinic's Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation have this problem, and it is the third most common diagnosis by rheumatologists in the outpatient setting. Fibromyalgia affects women five times as frequently as men.

Signs and Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

One of the main features of fibromyalgia is morning stiffness, fatigue, and multiple areas of tenderness in typical locations. Most people with fibromyalgia complain of pain over many areas of their body, with an average of six to nine locations. Although the pain is frequently described as being "all over," it is most prominent in the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and back.

Tender points are generally symmetrical and on both sides of the body. The areas of tenderness are usually small (less than an inch in diameter) and deep within the muscle. They are often located in sites that are slightly tender in normal people.

People with fibromyalgia, however, differ in having increased tenderness at these sites than the average person. Firm palpation with the thumb (just past the point where the nail turns white) over the outside elbow will typically cause a vague sensation of discomfort. Patients with fibromyalgia will experience much more pain and will often withdraw the arm involuntarily.

More than 70 percent of patients describe their pain as profound aching and stiffness of muscles. Often it is relatively constant from moment to moment, but certain positions or movements may momentarily worsen the pain. Other terms used to describe the pain are "dull" and "numb."

Sharp or intermittent pain is relatively uncommon.

Patients with fibromyalgia also often complain that sudden loud noises worsen their pain.

The generalized stiffness of fibromyalgia does not diminish with activity, unlike the stiffness of rheumatoid arthritis, which lessens as the day progresses. Despite the lack of abnormal lab tests, patients can suffer considerable discomfort.

The fatigue is often severe enough to impair activities of work and recreation. Patients commonly experience fatigue on arising and complain of being more fatigued when they wake up than when they went to bed.

Over 90 percent of patients believe the pain, stiffness, and fatigue are made worse by cold, damp weather. Overexertion, anxiety and stress are also factors.

Many find that localized heat, such as hot baths, showers, or heating pads, give them some relief. There is also a tendency for pain to improve in the summer with mild activity, or with rest.

Some patients will date the onset of their symptoms to some initiating event. This is often an injury, such as a fall, a motor vehicle accident, or a vocational or sports injury. Others find that their symptoms began with a stressful or emotional event, such as a death in the family, a divorce, a job loss, or similar occurrence.

Pain Location

Patients with fibromyalgia have pain in at least 11 of the following 18 tender point sites (one on each side of the body):

1. Base of the skull where the suboccipital muscle inserts.
2. Back of the low neck (anterior intertransverse spaces of C5-C7).
3. Midpoint of the upper shoulders (trapezius).
4. On the back in the middle of the scapula.
5. On the chest where the second rib attaches to the breastbone (sternum).
6. One inch below the outside of each elbow (lateral epicondyle).
7. Upper outer quadrant of buttocks.
8. Just behind the swelling on the upper leg bone below the hip (trochanteric prominence).
9. The inside of both knees (medial fat pads proximal to the joint line).

Treatment of Fibromyalgia

There is a persuasive body of emerging evidence that indicates that patients with fibromyalgia are physically unfit in terms of sustained endurance. Some studies show that exercise can decrease fibromyalgia pain by 75 percent.

Sleep is also critical to improvement, and many times, improved fitness will also correct the sleep disturbance.

Normalizing vitamin D levels has also been shown to be helpful to decrease pain as has topical magnesium oil supplementation.

Allergies, especially to mold, seem to be another common cause of fibromyalgia. There are some simple interventions using techniques called Total Body Modification (TBM) 800-243-4826.

APPENDIX THREE: Antibiotic Therapy with Minocin

There are three different tetracyclines available: simple tetracycline, doxycycline, or Minocin (minocycline).

Minocin has a distinct and clear advantage over tetracycline and doxycycline in three important areas:

1. Extended spectrum of activity
2. Greater tissue penetrability
3. Higher and more sustained serum levels

Bacterial cell membranes contain a lipid layer. One mechanism of building up a resistance to an antibiotic is to produce a thicker lipid layer. This layer makes it difficult for an antibiotic to penetrate. Minocin's chemical structure makes it the most lipid soluble of all the tetracyclines.

This difference can clearly be demonstrated when you compare the drugs in the treatment of two common clinical conditions.

Minocin gives consistently superior clinical results in the treatment of chronic prostatitis. In other studies, Minocin was used to improve between 75-85 percent of patients whose acne had become resistant to tetracycline. Strep is also believed to be a contributing cause to many patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Minocin has shown significant activity against treatment of this organism.

This is something I can relate to because my grandmother died of rheumatoid arthritis at 42.

See full article at: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/16/rheumatoid-arthritis-protocol.asp

FLUORIDE TRUTH hits the TV in AUSTRALIA

Video: Fluoride Truth hits the TV in Australia

How to Detox Fluoride from Your Body

NHD Undercover: Killer Chemicals in Your Cosmetics

Killer Chemicals in Your Cosmetics

Your cosmetics may be killing you! Recent reports show that many popular products still contain toxic compounds like mercury and lead. And while a new bill is seeking to close legal loopholes that allow the sale of these lethal products, those same products may be on sale at your local store right now!

How many products do you use each day? Most Americans use about 10. They add up pretty quickly. Think about it... toothpaste, shampoo, shower gel, and shaving cream... and you're not even out of the bathroom yet. Factor in deodorants, cologne, hair gels... and you're easily hitting that 10-a-day mark.

But while most of us go about our daily ablutions in blissful ignorance, beauty manufacturers, scientists, law makers, and reporters know that your daily products could well damage your kidneys, affect your nervous system, and even cause cancer.

Where We Stand Today

Currently, the FDA can't regulate beauty products until they are already on sale to the public. That means these products and ingredients don't have to go through any safety tests. Cosmetics companies can also combine ingredients without pre-market tests.

The FDA has banned certain compounds in beauty products. For example, it banned mercury in cosmetics in 1990. But it rarely tests to see if manufactures respect that ban. And that means no one is checking to see if consumers remain at risk or not.

In the case of mercury, a series of recent high-profile tests and investigations show that products continue to expose Americans to dangerous levels even now. But more about that in a moment...

It's been left to various environmental groups to conduct tests and prove that the public remains at risk. And only after applying pressure to the government for several years have they finally provoked proper action.

Mercury in Mascara

Mercury has a long history in the beauty industry. It blocks melanin, which pigments hair and skin. This function makes it a popular skin-whitener.

Other products do the same thing. But mercury is cheap, says Professor Ellen Silbergeld, who works for John Hopkins University.
Unfortunately we absorb mercury through our skin. And according to Silbergeld it can shut down organs and can lead to death.

As noted, the FDA banned mercury in products in 1990. But that doesn't mean cosmetic companies aren't still using it.

There's been a flurry of real-life cases and investigations that show it's still very much out there. And it's putting Americans in harm's way.

Mercury in Virginia

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is investigating 10 cases of mercury poisoning. Those cases are all linked to a cream that's been imported from Mexico.

"Before using any product, make sure the ingredients are on the box," says State Health Commissioner Karen Remley. "We urge people not to use imported products if there are no ingredients listed or if a product lists mercury as an ingredient."

VDH says that mercury can affect the "nervous system, kidneys, and the developing fetus. Health effects include memory loss, irritability, and [body] tremors."

But cases of mercury poisoning aren't just limited to Virginia. California health officials are also looking into a similar case for a California family who used the same cream.

Chicago Investigation Finds Proof of Poison

Earlier this summer, a major Chicago newspaper ran its own investigation into mercury poisoning. They revealed that popular skin-lightening creams still contain dangerous levels of mercury.

Researchers tested 50 creams at a certified lab. Six of those contained mercury. Worse, five contained enough to cause kidney damage, according to researchers.

"I'm shocked and speechless," says Dr. Jonith Breadon. She's a Chicago dermatologist and works with patients who use skin lighteners. "I just assumed since [mercury] was banned in the U.S., it never got in. But clearly that isn't true."

While mercury is banned in the U.S., the creams are clearly still finding their way here. Merchants order them online or from suppliers who bring them in from overseas.

Consumers can't know for sure which creams are tainted. The investigation shows stores across the nation sell dozens of brands, many of them made overseas.

The six creams that tested high were made in Lebanon, China, India, Pakistan, and Taiwan.

CBS has also reported on mercury in beauty products.

"We [found] several people who were poisoned by mercury in cosmetics," said Nutritional Biochemist Jay Foster. "They put it in mascara and other cosmetics as a preservative."

The FDA says mercury is safe in some eye makeup so long as it's not higher than 65 parts per million. But there are many experts who disagree.

"The amount of mercury in mascaras is very small, but it adds to our total mercury exposure," says Jonette Keri, a dermatologist at the University of Miami.

Lead in Lipstick

But it's not just mercury in mascara you have to watch out for. Heavy metals can seriously damage health. And there are plenty of them in beauty products.

Three years ago, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics sent 33 lipsticks to an independent lab for testing.

The lab found that 61 percent of them contained lead. These lipsticks included:

• L'Oreal
• Cover Girl
• Dior Addict

They sent letters to three U.S. Senators and kick-started a campaign to make the FDA take action. Two years passed before the FDA did anything.

But in 2009 the FDA conducted a follow-up study and found lead in the same lipsticks. They said the highest lead levels were in lipsticks made by:

• Procter & Gamble (Cover Girl brand)
• L'Oreal (L'Oreal, Body Shop, and Maybelline brands)
• Revlon

"Lead-containing lipstick applied several times a day adds up to significant exposure levels," says Dr. Mark Mitchell, president of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice. "There is no safe level of lead exposure."

"Lead is a proven toxin that causes lowered IQ, reduced school performance, and increased aggression," says Professor Sean Palfrey, the medical director of Boston's Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.

"Pregnant women are vulnerable to lead exposure," says Palfrey. "There is no safe lead exposure for children and pregnant women."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backs this up. They say that: "No safe blood lead level has been identified."

The agency suggests avoiding all sources of lead exposure, including lead-containing cosmetics.

Pampering - or Hurting - Your Baby?

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested several baby products just last year. They found that two known carcinogens, 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde, in dozens of bath products. Products included Sesame Street character brands and even Johnson & Johnson's "pure and gentle" baby shampoo.

According to the EPA, formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane are known animal carcinogens and probable human carcinogens. Formaldehyde also causes skin rashes in children.

The group delivered a letter to Johnson & Johnson last year asking for safe products. The letter was signed by over a million physicians, nurses and moms.

Fragrance

Fragrance makers have the ultimate loophole when it comes to disclosing what's in the bottle. That's because fragrance is a trade secret and companies don't have to say what's in it.

"The companies already know what are in each others' products," Stephanie Hendrick, coordinator for Environmental Health, told AolNews. "It's only the public that's kept in the dark."

And "fragrance" can mask many chemical compounds. It's used in shampoos, deodorants, lotions, and shaving creams. Even "unscented" products make use of the loophole. They'll often use masking fragrances, which are chemicals that cover up the smell of other chemicals.

According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, fragrances are among the top five known allergens. They can cause or trigger asthma attacks. The group tested fragrances just this year and found:

• Phthalates: These chemicals cause hormone damage and affect fertility.

• Diethyl phthalate (DEP): Recent studies link DEP with sperm damage in men. It was found in 12 out of 17 tested fragrances.

Smart Shopping Guide

With so many dangers lurking in the cosmetics aisle... you need to be smart about what you buy.

Many doctors are working to tackle this burning issue. They're working hard to create natural products... cosmetic lines that are safe for you and your family. We'll be investigating this very subject and bringing you our findings on the doctors and products that you can trust in a future issue.

In the meantime, be smart about choosing your products. Keep these three tips in mind:

1. Be wary of claims that say products are "dermatologist-tested," "natural," or "organic." Look for yourself and read the ingredient label instead.
2. Be very serious about warning labels. They're your best clue to toxic ingredients.
3. You can check out which products tested safe or not. There's a huge safety guide at www.cosmeticsdatabase.com.

To your health,

Ian Robinson,
Managing Editor
NHD "Health Watch"

Obesity Levels Go Up Even As Soda Sales Drop

Soda Consumption Has Been Declining for 5-Yearss

Rob Port  •  August 4, 2010

It’s almost like obesity doesn’t really have anything to do with soft drinks or something.

For a while now politicians, particularly Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York and First Lady Michelle Obama, have been leading a charge against the soda industry claiming that the industry is responsible, at least in part, for the “obesity epidemic.” That “epidemic” really just being the latest “crisis” they don’t want to let go to waste when it can be used to justify more taxes and regulations.

There’s a problem though. While obesity levels are on the rise…

The U.S. is losing the battle of the bulge, and Mississippi is the state reporting the largest percentage of fat people.

The number of states with an adult obesity rate of 30 percent or more has tripled, to nine, since 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report today. Mississippi had the highest rate, 34 percent. About 75 million Americans are considered obese, the Atlanta-based CDC said.

Being fat is costing Americans as much as $150 billion a year from ills such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, as obese people carry almost $1,500 more in yearly medical expenses, the CDC said in the report. The Obama administration and public-health officials have made fighting flab a priority, organizing campaigns to get people to eat less, consume more fruits and vegetables, and get more physical activity.

…soda consumption is actually declining and has been for five years now.

Sales of carbonated soft drinks in the U.S. fell for the fifth year in a row last year, although the pace of decline has slowed from 2008, according to a report from industry trademagazine Beverage Digest.

Maybe, just maybe, Americans are fat not because of any one specific industry but rather because they make poor diet and exercise decisions. Specifically, that they eat too much and exercise too little.

And maybe that really isn’t any of the government’s business. After all, doesn’t living in a free country mean being free to have an unhealthy diet and skip exercising if we want? Granted, those aren’t good decisions, but since when did freedom only mean the freedom to make what the government defines as good decisions?

But, according to the Obama administration, Americans “do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish.” And according to Michelle Obama, “dessert is not a right.”

ObamaCare… New Chart

This latest chart of ObamaCare only shows about a third of the complexity of the hurricane and where it is blowing us.

High Resolution Version of Chart (PDF) »

In the garage I still have a copy of the chart for HillaryCare. It was simple, Alice's Wonderland was easier to wind through, compared to this maze, a maze we're doomed to wander in search of care.

Washington, DC – Four months after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously declared “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it,” a congressional panel has released the first chart illustrating the 2,801 page health care law President Obama signed into law in March.

Developed by the Joint Economic Committee minority, led by U.S Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the detailed organization chart displays a bewildering array of new government agencies, regulations and mandates.

“For Americans, as well as Congressional Democrats who didn’t bother to read the bill, this first look at the final health care law confirms what many fear, that reform morphed into a monstrosity of new bureaucracies, mandates, taxes and rationing that will drive up health care costs, hurt seniors and force our most intimate health care choices into the hands of Washington bureaucrats,” said Brady, the committee’s senior House Republican. “If this is what passes for health care reform in America, then God help us all.”

Brownback, the committee’s ranking member, added, “This updated chart illustrates the overwhelming expansion of government control over health choices and the bewildering complexity facing everyone affected by this law. It doesn’t take long to see how the recently signed health care bill causes a hugely expensive and explosive expansion of federal control over health care. Personal choices that should be between a doctor and a patient will quickly be strangled in a never ending web of bureaucracy.”

Senate Steering Committee Chairman Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) called Obamacare “a bureaucratic nightmare. The Democrats’ takeover of health care creates a byzantine network of 159 new federal programs and bureaucracies to make decisions that should be between just the patient and their doctor. It should concern everyone that at the center of this regulatory web is the new CMS chief, Donald Berwick, who has championed rationing and European socialized medicine. Americans were rightly outraged that this big government bill was rushed through Congress before anyone read or fully understood the bill’s consequences. Republicans will fight to repeal this reckless takeover and to ensure health care freedom to American families.”

In addition to capturing the massive expansion of government and the overwhelming complexity of new regulations and taxes, the chart portrays:

• $569 billion in higher taxes;
• $529 billion in cuts to Medicare;
• swelling of the ranks of Medicaid by 16 million;
• 17 major insurance mandates; and
• the creation of two new bureaucracies with powers to impose future rationing: the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and the Independent Payments Advisory Board.
• Rationing will be a reality and from experience that means Seniors and the Disabled…. as Sarah Palin warned us all about and was vilified for!

Brady admits committee analysts could not fit the entire health care bill on one chart. “This portrays only about one-third of the complexity of the final bill. It’s actually worse than this.”

###

The War on Seniors. If you're on Medicare or if you soon will be, the future doesn't look great. You and 46 million Americans just like you are going to shoulder more than half the cost of health reform through reductions to Medicare spending. And you will bear additional burdens through indirect taxes on everything from drugs to wheelchairs and crutches.

If you are one of the 11.5 million members of Medicare Advantage plans, you may have already noticed the changes. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, "across the country, dozens of private insurers...are preparing to pare dental, vision and certain prescription-drug coverage starting next year."

The chart below shows how cuts in spending will affect seniors in conventional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans. It shows a little bit of pain at first, ratcheting even higher through time. It's as though politicians think seniors are like the proverbial frog in the sauce pan. If you turn the heat up slowly, the frog gets boiled before he realizes he's in trouble.

Sources: National Center for Policy Analysis and
the Congressional Budget Office

Redistributing from Old to Young. Since the enactment of Social Security in the 1930s and Medicare in the 1960s, Americans have lived by a simple compact: younger generations will pay the taxes necessary to support older generations, and, when they're old, the young will provide for them. If ObamaCare is permitted to go forward, there will be a reverse redistribution of health care resources from the elderly to the young. As a Senior Fellow from the left-leaning Brookings Institution has explained, "We badly need to...reallocate resources from the elderly to younger families."

Coming Soon: A Two Tiered Health Care System. As Joe Newhouse argued in Health Affairs recently, to follow its mandate the agency responsible for constraining Medicare costs will have to cause Medicare fees to fall further and further behind what private insurers pay. This means that seniors and the disabled would look increasingly less attractive to providers than higher paying private sector patients. In the worst case, Medicare enrollees could find that their access and quality of care is no better than the Medicaid enrollees who are compelled to rely on community health centers and safety net hospitals for their care.

The Spin from Washington. The Obama Administration has alleged that cutting Medicare benefits now will strengthen Medicare in the future. Said Nancy-Ann DeParle, head of the White House's Office of Health Reform, "I'm sure that some of those additional benefits have been nice, but I think what we have to look at here is what's fair and what's important for the strength of the Medicare program long term."

That's a nice story, but it's not the truth. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that health care reform will cut Medicare spending by more than $523 billion. These Medicare cuts aren't going to shore up Medicare's future; they are going to create a new entitlement program - taxpayer-funded health insurance for young Americans. The numbers tell the truth: during the next ten years, ObamaCare will spend $938 billion to expand health care for low-income Americans. To pay for it, ObamaCare will cut $523 billion from Medicare and, hardest hit, approximately $200 billion from Medicare Advantage. ObamaCare will also levy new taxes, including higher Medicare taxes.

Spread the Word! A health care system that prizes patient choice is possible. Since 1983, the NCPA has led the charge for patient-centered health care. Help us by forwarding this email to your friends and encourage them to sign up for the Policy Patriot Weekly Letter!

The NCPA Needs Your Help! The NCPA is a non-profit that relies solely on contributions from people like you. We don't accept government funds. Please consider supporting our work. You can donate online or mail a check to:

National Center for Policy Analysis P.O. Box 650098 Dallas, Texas 75265-0098

Thanks for your support!

Warm regards,

Jeanette Nordstrom - National Center for Policy Analysis

Back to BasicsA RETURN TO BASIC VALUES

House moves to repeal Obamacare individual mandate

Sent by GOP staff this afternoon:

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have just announced they will move to force a vote in the next 24 hours on legislation to repeal the unconstitutional “individual mandate” at the heart of President Obama’s job-killing health care law. Americans can go to this link on the America Speaking Out website starting NOW to read about the idea, vote on it, start a discussion, and share their ideas. The GOP legislation, offered by Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), is a first step to repealing ObamaCare and replacing it with common-sense reforms that will lower health care costs and protect freedom.

GOP leader John Boehner adds:

House Republicans plan to force a vote as soon as today on a measure that would repeal the job-killing, unconstitutional ‘individual mandate’ at the heart of ObamaCare. This proposal, to be offered by House Ways & Means Committee Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI), will be offered as the Republican motion-to-recommit on H.R. 5486, the so-called Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act of 2010.

Rep. Camp’s idea has been posted here on the America Speaking Out website, and Americans are urged to visit, read about the proposal, and share their ideas. House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) voiced strong support for this effort to strike at the heart of ObamaCare:

“House Republicans will force a vote to end the job-killing ‘individual mandate’ at the heart of ObamaCare during the debate on the small business deficit spending bill. We’ll highlight our effort using the ‘America Speaking Out’ website to call attention to what will be, literally, the biggest vote on the new health care law since it passed. This is a first step in Republicans’ efforts to repeal ObamaCare and replace it with commonsense, step-by-step reforms to lower costs.”

This move comes one day after the new health care law experienced its latest setback, this time in the form of new job-killing mandates that flatly contradict President Obama’s now-infamous ‘if you like it, you can keep it’ pledge. The coverage controversy is the latest in a growing list of broken promises that have solidified the American people’s opposition to this job-killing health care law:

“If You Like Your Health Care Plan” … Too Bad. In stark contrast to President Obama’s oft-stated pledge that, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan,” his administration yesterday issued new job-killing mandates that will force a majority of the nation’s employers – including as many as four out of every five small businesses – to change or drop their coverage as the government sees fit. Even the Administration acknowledged its reversal, allowing “that some people, especially those who work at smaller businesses, might face significant changes in the terms of their coverage.”

ObamaCare Will Increase Costs, Not Lower Them As Promised. Despite President Obama’s claim that his health care plan would “slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government,” analyses by both the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office and the Obama Administration’s Medicare actuary have confirmed that the new health care law will actually raise health care costs by $311 billion over 10 years.

ObamaCare Forces Millions of Seniors Off Medicare Coverage. Last week, President Obama re-launched his health care plan by promoting Medicare rebate checks that more than nine in 10 Medicare beneficiaries will never receive. An analysis conducted by the President’s own Medicare actuary indicates that the new health care law includes roughly $575 billion in Medicare cuts, which will be used to fund the creation of a massive new entitlement program. As a result of these cuts, enrollment in the popular Medicare Advantage program will be slashed in half.

ObamaCare Is Anti-Small Business. In April, Obama sought to reassure “jittery” small business owners by touting a health care tax credit in the ObamaCare bill that he claimed was “pro-jobs” and “pro-business.” But according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) – which joined 20 states in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare – the tax credit the Administration cites “will do little to nothing to make purchasing insurance more affordable for small firms.” According to the NFIB, only 12 percent of small businesses would benefit in any way, and the credit goes away after a short period of time.

President Obama has tried to deflect attention away from these broken promises with another tireless taxpayer-funded PR campaign, but the American people have spoken – again. Republicans are listening, and advancing this effort to repeal ObamaCare and replace it with commonsense, step-by-step reforms to lower costs and protect American jobs.

***

5:52pm Eastern update GOP Rep. Lynn Jenkins reports that the vote failed 187-230.

Here’s the roll call vote.

Constitutional challenge to ObamaCare wins the first round

Thomas Lifson

The lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare, brought by Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, has won the very first legal step in a long process. A motion to dismiss brought by the Obama Administration was rejected by the judge. Rosalind S. Helderman reports on the Washington Post's Breaking News Blog:

U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson rejected arguments from Obama administration lawyers that Virginia has no standing to sue over the law and no chance of ultimately prevailing in its constitutional claim.

The suit challenges the constitutionality of the mandatory purchase of health insurance contained in the ObamaCare legislation. The next step will be a hearing of the legal arguments in Judge Hudson's courtroom in October.
Mark J. Fitzgibbons adds:

The Virginia lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare survived the federal government's motion to dismiss. This battle victory for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and his team overcame attempts by the Feds to claim Virginia does not have standing to sue, that the case was not ‘ripe' to be brought, and that the penalty for not purchasing health insurance is a ‘tax' that Congress may constitutionally impose anyway.

The 32-page opinion is a carefully written slam-dunk at this first stage. The federal judge wrote, "Never before has the Commerce Clause and associated Necessary and Proper Clause been extended this far."

The judge even quotes the Feds' brief that if the individual mandate is declared unconstitutional, "that's the end of the ballgame" for ObamaCare.

The Virginia case of course cites to judicial opinions about the Commerce Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause, the 10^th Amendment, and so on. It is remarkable, however, in one significant sense: the Virginia case remains true to the text of the Constitution.

If the judges and justices were to remain true to the Constitution itself as this case proceeds up the judicial ladder, then ObamaCare will lose. Those hoping for ObamaCare to win will stake their claims in arguments that are not supported by the pure text of the Constitution. A win by ObamaCare proponents would result in the "end of the ballgame" for restrictions on federal power

Only repeal is real

Sign the “Repeal 2010 Healthcare Reform” Petition:

Click Here

Repeal ObamaCare

Help John Boehner Fight to Repeal ObamaCare & Start Over. JohnBoehner.com

The Truth About Obamacare

IS THERE HOPE FOR GLENN BECK'S EYES?

Struggling to maintain composure in front of 6,000 fans Glenn Beck disclosed that he had been diagnosed with a serious eye condition, macular dystrophy, a progressive genetic disorder that may lead to blindness. As he told his story he took a shot at health care reform, quipping that he “went to the best doctor I can find while I could still go to the best doctor I can find.” And sadly, all this best doctor that money can buy could tell him was that he would just have to wait and see what happens. At once, as he fought back his tears, Glenn Beck unwittingly became the symbol for millions of Americans, liberals and conservatives alike, who go to their doctor looking for solutions and leave in a humbled and hopeless frame of mind.

Glenn Beck has already turned to prayer for his hope, as would millions of Americans in a similar situation. But where are the healing doctors when they are needed? Sure you can pay a fortune for the Disney-World, high-tech medicine of today, but does that do more for anyone than the country doctor who used to have time to make house calls? The doctor whose mere presence instilled the hope that everything would now be fine. There is something terribly wrong in American medicine today, and it’s not just the cost.

Glenn Beck’s health problem, macular dystrophy, is not to be confused with the much more common cause of blindness in the United States, macular degeneration. It is a rare problem. In my 25 years on the front lines of clinical nutrition I have never seen a single person with the issue, while I have helped many with macular degeneration. Since Mr. Beck is unlikely to understand the technical nature of his problem I looked into it for him.

His problem involves his cornea, which is the major refractive structure of the outer part of the eye. This structure must hold water to provide cushioning to protect the eye while at the same time allowing light through in an unobstructed manner. A key layer of the cornea, called the corneal stroma, is developing clouds that block his vision. Scientists have identified the gene weakness involved, and the problem is considered essentially untreatable and progressive. Or is it?

The first clue that his diagnosis is atypical is that true macular dystrophy shows up early in life, as the eye structure is simply unable to maintain its integrity. So why does Mr. Beck all of a sudden have this problem show up at his age? Genes are pliable, never fixed in concrete. Gene-related problems that pop up at unexpected times tend to mean that other health problems have enabled a genetic weak spot to manifest as a medical problem. This is actually good news for Mr. Beck, as it means he has a much higher chance of keeping that weakness in check, possibly reversing the current situation or preventing it from worsening. Yes, there is a glimmer of hope.

The next step is to understand the nature of the problem. Scientists have done a fairly good job of defining how the problem presents itself. The corneal stroma is made up of something called keratin sulfate, a type of proteoglycan that is a mix of carbohydrate and protein that forms the tissue matrix of the cornea. In this case, it is highly sulfated enabling a negative charge on the structure so as to be able to hold water as cushioning in case your eye bumps into something. In macular dystrophy there is a genetic inability to synthesize keratin sulfate or the keratin sulfate that is produced is abnormal in structural integrity.

Keratin sulfate is something I happen to know quite a lot about, as it is also part of cartilage and other body tissues. I was using glucosamine as a dietary supplement before my peers, let along the general public, had any idea of its value in making proteoglycans and repairing connective tissues. I was the first to use supplemental low-molecular weight hyaluronic acid for joint repair. Hyaluronic acid is the backbone spine of a proteoglycan.

In the nutritional recovery of health we always start with basics and then move on from there. Unfortunately for Mr. Beck, because his problem is rare, there is not a great deal of science demonstrating how nutrition can help him. However, there is enough science to give suggestions that have no potential for doing any harm and a logical possibility of providing benefit – especially compared to the wait-and-see advice of health professionals who admittedly don’t know how to help.

Lumican and keratocan are the primary keratin sulfates in the cornial stroma. Without adequate lumican then collagen strands within the cornea are too thick and too close together. The absence of lumicancauses a loss of structural integrity and is the cause of the cloudiness that results in blindness. In Mr. Beck’s case if he had a true gene problem it would have been present earlier in his life. It is more likely that he has the gene problem as a weak spot that is now manifesting. This gives him hope that if he can restore lumican functionality and promote better structural integrity of the connective tissue matrix and related collagen, then he can improve his situation. Of course, no known drugs can do this. Nutrition can.

There is scientific evidence to show that DHA, the important omega 3 typically from fish oil, can increase the gene expression that directly enhances the production of lumican. DHA is the most lacking nutrient in the American diet and is almost always lacking in anyone who is overweight. While there are no human studies to prove that DHA can help atypical macular dystrophy, there is certainly no downside to trying. Typical doses likely to help range from 1000 mgs of DHA per day up to 3000 mg per day.

We’ve known since the days of scurvy the vital nature of vitamin C to form healthy collagen in connective tissue. A study clearly shows that vitamin C is needed for lumican production and integrity of the collagen structure of the cornea. Vitamin C and other antioxidants are typically low in any overweight person. I would suggest 3,000 – 5,000 mgs. per day along with a mixture of other antioxidants that act synergistically with vitamin C. In particular, I would also suggest up to 300 mg of grape seed extract. While there are no grape seed extract and lumican studies, the nutrient is well-documented for its ability to increase the strength and structural integrity of injured collagen strands.

These basic suggestions are backed by science. Of course, I am not giving medical advice for the treatment of a disease. I am giving some simple tips for nutrition to support eye structure. In this same vein Mr. Beck could do much more, taking supplements like hyaluronic acid and glucosamine that are known to enhance the formation of all types of proteoglycans.

In addition to basic nutrition Mr. Beck needs to figure out what is punching his genetic weak spot in the nose. These would be changes that were going on prior to the onset or flare up of his problem. Such changes would need to have a plausible link to his problem. In reality, this could be any kind of increased stress. Oftentimes, it could be the side effect of a medication he may be taking. Since I know little about his life or medical issues let me throw out some examples so you get the idea.

As a recovering alcoholic he has a much higher likelihood of having a low-grade chronic Candida albicans infection, typically residing in his digestive tract or sinuses. Based on his on-air obsession with sweet junk food the likelihood he has a significant Candida problem is high. Sugar feeds Candida. It is not uncommon for someone having a Candida flare up to go on a sugar-eating binge, especially when under stress, resulting in aggravating a lower-level problem into a flared up condition. There is science to show that a Candida albicans infection within the eye can drastically interfere with the production of lumican. We also know that even if the infection is not in his eye Candida albicans anywhere in his body can send messages to the human immune system and seriously disturb function. This is how digestive Candida albicans causes asthma.

Maybe Mr. Beck has been cutting his sleep short and running himself ragged. The lack of deeper REM sleep which involves rapid eye movements can significantly disturb the health of the cornea, especially in someone who has his problem or is prone to it. This problem either is or isn’t happening, but if it is then it should be solved.

Perhaps he is taking one of the drugs typically given to overweight men at mid life such as blood pressure medication or erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra. Blood pressure pills could easily reduce the flow of nutrition to his eyes, a problem that would slowly worsen the longer he was on the medication. ED pills, which can produce friendly nitric oxide (eNOS) that relaxes the vascular system can just as easily produce hostile nitric oxide (iNOS) capable of easily damaging the eye. This is why ED pills have vision loss as a side effect. If he has a genetic weak spot then excessive iNOS could easily aggravate the problem, as would also be the case in a low oxygen eye environment induced by blood pressure medication. Doctors are in denial over the massive health-damaging side effects of the medications routinely given out. If Mr. Beck showed up with these or similar medications at his appointment then the doctor is likely to yawn and discount them as a possible contributing factor even though it is often drugs that cause genetic weak spots to manifest.

My point is that it takes some detective work to figure out what is punching Mr. Beck’s genetic weak spot in the nose. I’m sure, nine times out of ten, Mr. Beck, as is true of any patient, could describe exactly what triggered his problems. If only health professionals listened and had the intelligence to understand and take corrective action.

Whether or not anything I have suggested would fix or solve Mr. Beck’s problems is unknown. I am certainly not offering a treatment or miracle cure. I am offering common sense. And from common sense springs hope. And from hope springs the innate power of healing. While hope has been denigrated in modern science to the placebo effect, it is one of the most powerful healing forces in nature. Any physician that cannot provide realistic hope to a patient is a physician not worth having.

For the record, I’d give the same health tips to President Obama if he had this problem, as my agenda is not political. I do have a very open agenda, and that is the promotion of health freedom for the American public. I am dedicated to explaining the absolute value of nutrition and natural health not only to maintain good health but in the prevention of disease and as part of the process of helping any disease.

Americans should understand that health freedom is the leading indicator of freedom in general. Governments like to control a population’s health, especially their mental health. This is true of Republicans and Democrats, as I have clearly explained in my 2006 book, Fight for Your Health; Exposing the FDA’s Betrayal of America.

Glenn beck would love the historical examples. In Germany, a century ago, medical practitioners worked side by side with alternative healers in what was known as “the freedom to cure.” In Hitler’s rise to power alternative health was one of the first things he got rid of, replacing it with a fixation on mental health and psychiatric control of the minds of the German people. Today in America, we have extensive overuse of psychiatric medication in adults and children.

The FDA doesn’t care about such problems, rather the FDA, as a tool of whatever administration is in power, consistently works to suppress knowledge of health options to the American people. The Republican FDA does this to stamp out competition for the Big Pharma sickness industry and the Democrats do it to create a herd of pliable sheeple that will follow any public health decree. It is little wonder that leading health freedom attorney, Jonathan Emord, has called for the end to the FDA and replacing it with a humane, safe, and void-of-vested-interests free market system of drug approval.

In addition to its revolving door with the industry it is supposed to be regulating, the unelected bureaucrats at the FDA actively work against all Americans trying to sell out American sovereignty and subject Americans to foreign agreements at the expense of health freedom. The two most egregious examples are the FDA’s Trilateral Cooperation Charter, the health part of the effort of our government to create a new North American Union and harmonize us with the repressive freedom-lacking laws of Canada and Mexico. And then there is the similar international effort called Codex, in which the FDA actively lobbies against the wishes of the American people for natural health options and health freedom.

Invariably the misguided FDA works against the wishes of the majority of Americans and in the direction of making U.S. citizens conform to business interests of other countries. The FDA is central to the health problems in America, acting as a gatekeeper to the profits of industry. Example after example shows that Big Pharma could care less about the health damage they cause, other than having to pay liability claims. This is not a new problem, it has been going on for a century and Americans have paid a dear price in terms of lost quality of health and over 100,000 casualties per year.

Fundamental to the erosion of freedom in this country is the health-related loss of hope. Yes Mr. Beck, you have more than a fighting chance.

By Byron J. Richards, CCN
July 28, 2010
NewsWithViews.com

---

Byron J. Richards, Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist, nationally-renowned nutrition expert, and founder of Wellness Resources is a leader in advocating the value of dietary supplements as a vital tool to maintain health. He is an outspoken critic of government and Big Pharma efforts to deny access to natural health products and has written extensively on the life-shortening and health-damaging failures of the sickness industry.

His 25 years of clinical experience from the front lines of nutrition have made him a popular radio guest who callers find impossible to stump. He has personally developed 75 unique nutraceutical-grade nutritional supplement formulas with a focus on thyroid nutrition, healthy weight loss supplements, cardiovascular nutrition, and stress management.

FREE Subscription to Byron's Health Newsletter, click here.

E-mail: byron@truthinwellness.com