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Rheumatoid Relief - The Natural Way

by Dr. Susan Lark

Published 02/03/09

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, potentially crippling autoimmune disease. This means that the body launches antibodies against components of its own joints, resulting in a painful inflammatory condition. But many physicians, including myself, believe that this is not the whole story. In fact, there’s been great progress in pinpointing other factors that help RA get established in the body—factors that offer better avenues to approach therapy for this disease, rather than counting on potentially harmful drugs.

Following are some of the most promising of those avenues, as well as the healing therapies I recommend that can help put your body back on track if you suffer from RA.

The Hormonal Factor

RA affects women much more frequently than men. This fact alone is the first in a series of important clues about the huge effect of hormones on the development of RA. As you’ll see, this link is more than just coincidence.

Estrogen Effects

Estrogen has a significant impact on the health of joints. The synovial membrane—the delicate membrane lining the joints—is equipped with hormone receptors. When stimulated by estrogen, these receptors can trigger the release of enzymes that degrade the joint’s cartilage matrix and thin its natural lubrication.

Another indication of estrogen’s role in RA is evident in pregnant women. According to a study in the July 2000 Journal of Rheumatology, when a woman already afflicted with RA is pregnant—which causes her hormonal profile to be dominated by progesterone—her joints improve. But after delivery, when estrogen levels bounce back, her joints get worse.

In light of this information, you would think that estrogen has only a destructive role in RA, and that menopause ought to make it better. But a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that when menopausal women took hormone replacement therapy, there was a three-fold decrease in their incidence of RA. This leads to the theory that hormonal imbalance is what tosses fuel onto the fire of RA.

Beyond Estrogen—Male Hormones and Pregnenolone

It isn’t just “female” hormones that play a role in joint health. The so-called male hormones—testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S)—have a proven anti-inflammatory effect on the joints. However, from about age 25 onward, a woman’s natural production of testosterone starts falling. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 107 women with active RA, weekly supplemental testosterone injections brought significant improvement in comfort and quality of life (November 1996, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases).

The male hormones not only help protect the joints; they also are all created in the adrenals from the precursor hormones pregnenolone and DHEA. Pregnenolone, in particular, is a crucial hormone. I consider it the “mother hormone,” because everything arises from pregnenolone—including the sex hormones and adrenal hormones.

Pregnenolone was first studied in the 1940s as a way to treat various inflammatory conditions, including RA. But in the 1950s, when synthetic cortisones became the therapy of choice for RA, pregnenolone research and use came to a halt. However, it is clear that this hormone plays a major role in protecting the joints. When there is ample supply in the body, inflammation is kept in check; when the body lacks sufficient levels of pregnenolone, RA and its symptoms flare up. In fact, according to a June 2006 study in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, RA sufferers have significantly depleted levels of pregnenolone, as well as DHEA-S and testosterone.

Furthermore, according to a study published this year in Modern Rheumatology, patients who took corticosteroid treatments—even if they did not have RA—had significantly reduced levels of joint-protecting adrenal hormones. In fact, even low doses of a commonly prescribed corticosteroid, prednisolone, caused reduced adrenal functioning in RA patients. Let me rephrase this incredibly important statement: The very drug that’s commonly prescribed to RA patients actually lowers their levels of joint-protective hormones. Believe it or not, the fact that the use of cortisone-like drugs suppresses adrenal function is a well-known medical phenomenon.

To make matters worse, as a woman approaches midlife, her declining levels of estrogen, testosterone, DHEA-S, and progesterone result in thinning of the cartilage, tendons, and ligaments of her joints. This leads to joint laxity. The muscles around the joints try to pick up the slack by contracting, and this starts turning the whole body into a clenching fist, which contributes to an overall increase in aches, pains, stiffness, and that hunched-over silhouette that’s so common in older women.

With their alignment more and more contracted, the hardest working joints begin to suffer from increased friction, decreased flexibility, and significant stress on those thinning bands of connective tissue. This sets the stage for injury, increased wear and tear, and worsening arthritis.

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