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Date: 12.05.2014
From: Angie

Subject: Stains and R.A.

Hi there,
I have had RA for the last 6 years which at first made me very disabled.
As the years have gone on I have come off methotrexate and now only take nsaids and the RA is manageable.
Interestingly I recently had my cholesterol taken . It was 8.8. The nurse suggested I take statins.
For the last year I had been hearing a pulse in my head going in my right ear, it drives me mad, sometimes it was so loud it has made my head hurt. If I took a deep breath I would hear a flutter then sometimes it would slow down. I also had many occasions when my pulse would be racing and when all I was doing was sitting quietly.I thought it might be high blood pressure but it wasn't. Then on blood checks my esr and crp started rising again, but I had no swellings or discomfort anywhere, so I began to think that maybe it was my vascular system that was inflamed.
Anyway since I have started the statins, my inflammation markers have gone right down as well as my cholesterol, plus that pulse sound has gone and I don't wake up in the morning with my pulse racing anymore. I feel loads better and have far more energy.
Has anyone else experienced this I wonder?
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Date: 12.05.2014
From: Sean

Subject: Re: Stains and R.A.

Hi Angie

My understanding of RA and other forms of arthritis is that it can be partly down to how our bodies prcoess proteins in our own gut flora (or food we put in our gut).

As soon as you mentioned statins - I wondered if they had been investigated as having antibiotic properties. And they have in this study last year been shown to have significant antibacterial properties.

http://www.ann-clinmicrob.com/content/11/1/13

Out of interest which statin are you taking - as I find this interesting from the study. One of the bacteria implicated in RA is Proteus Mirabilis.

"On the other hand, escherichia coli, proteus mirabilis, and enterobacter cloacae were more sensitive to atorvastatin compared to both simvastatin and rosuvastatin."
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Date: 12.05.2014
From: Angie

Subject: Re: Stains and R.A.

Hiya Sean,
What an interesting find. Thanks for that.
So I wonder whether the statin in dealing with the bacteria will keep working like an antibiotic and suppress the R.A. A bit like the Antibiotic Protocol that others use.
I might just research Proteus Mirabilis I want to know more about that.
I believe statins have immune suppressant properties as well which would help the inflammation markers.
It is all so interesting.
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Date: 13.05.2014
From: Sean

Subject: Re: Stains and R.A.

Hi Angie - here are two studies that explain about Proteus and RA - they are very recent research (last few years).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3290812/

http://www.kickas.org/medical/radocs/S1740252206000059.pdf

Bottom line for me on this that if they are demonstrating that Auto-Immune diseases can be triggered and fueled by something external hence my experience with dietary proteins as well as bacteria.

Auotimmune disease is a failure of the immune system to differentiate between self tissues and other proteins that is has taken a dislike to. For exmaple bacteria normally stay in the gut / colon / urinary tract and cannot easily pass in to the blood stream. This paper on Celiac has proven how gluten protein causes intestinal permeability in everybody irrespective of celiac.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16635908

"Based on our results, we concluded that gliadin activates zonulin signaling irrespective of the genetic expression of autoimmunity, leading to increased intestinal permeability to macromolecules."
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Date: 13.05.2014
From: Angie

Subject: Re: Stains and R.A.

Hi Sean, Before I continue I forgotten to mention the statin I am on in my last post it is simvastatin so it all fits.
Thank you for the two more studies. I have had a look at them and think I understand however I did find them a little hard to take in at times LOL.
What I don't understand is if they have now recognised that proteus mirabilis bacteria is one of the contributory factors for R.A. Then why aren't they working on that instead of just concentrating on suppressing the immune system, surely if they killed that bacteria in us susceptible ones,just like people with stomach ulcers where they have now found that the helicobacter pylori bacteria that causes the ulcers can be killed by heavy doses of antibiotics. Or am I totally on the wrong track?
As for external influences well that does make sense to for susceptible people. I am beginning to think that maybe I brought this on myself as for many years before I got ill, I grew my own food, cleaned out my chucks, and generally had no thought about eating food fresh from the ground I always have been of the opinion that a bit of muck does no harm to anyone, well just maybe my system was more vulnerable according to those studies it could happen or again am I reading it wrong lol.
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Date: 13.05.2014
From: Sean

Subject: Re: Stains and R.A.

Hi Angie - I agree the question is how these studies ever feed in to practice and treatments - or they sit around for decades until someone does a more definititive study and then shouts loud enough.

I dont know - I guess it is in upper echelons of the NHS somewhere. I am cynical about this as you can see - and think that drug company profits do have a role here. Could they be that cruel to not pursue these to a conclusion? - personally I dont think it is that callous but rather they pursue profit as there major goal.

For example - In other countries there are many doctors practising EPD (enzyme potentiated desensitisation) - even for arthritis.

I read that in the UK we have 600 times fewer allergy and immunology experts (per head of population) compared to Germany - so it is the departments with the biggest trousers that decide the tune to play.

They even have an EPD to proteus - and interestingly for me they do EPD with the same formula as klebsiella (which is a bacteria often associated with my own Ankylosing Spondylitis)

It is a treatment I would consider to overcome my food allergies and hopefully help my arthritis at the same time!

- http://www.naltd.co.uk/epdinfo.html

The main developer of EPD in the UK was closed down / forced in to bankruptcy by a tribunal as he asked patients for additonal funding to keep his company going.

Talking of studies sitting around for decades - I stumbled across this a few days ago which is from 1924! This doctor was successfully treating arthritis with diet change even then and was comparing the effect of diet to infection - including sore throats.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM192409041911003

And he carried it on even in 1944

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02997965
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Date: 14.05.2014
From: Angie

Subject: Re: Stains and R.A.

Hi Sean,
I agree about the major drug companies it really would not line their pockets if they found a one off medication to nip these diseases in the bud and cure us all.
All I can say is thank goodness for the internet at least we can educate ourselves about our specific conditions, look into research past and present and decide a route we wish to take.
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