Rheumatoid arthritis
I have had rheumatoid arthritis since the age of six and although I responded well to certain drugs and exercise, I still have very painful hips. I have tried fish oils, homeopathy and cider vinegar but to be honest, nothing has really helped. My doctor wants me to take non steroid anti-inflammatories but I am dead against this. Can you suggest anything else?
There is a lot of excitement in the natural health world about a new theory that links over 300 chronic health complaints, including rheumatoid arthritis, Chronic Fatigue and even Parkinson’s disease, with the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease.
The reason for all the excitement is that it is not “alternative” practitioners making this link, but medical microbiologists who have concluded this organism is far more prevalent that previously thought and often overlooked by doctors when making a diagnosis.
Lyme Disease was first recognized by the United States in 1975, following a mysterious outbreak of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis near the rural community of Lyme, Connecticut. In 1982, microbiologists identified the infectious agent as an organism called Borrelia burgdorferi, which lives in the guts of ticks, mosquitoes, fleas and mites.
To learn more about Lyme disease and why microbiologists believe it has become endemic around the world, visit the website of the new British Lyme Disease Foundation (www.wadhurst.demon.co.uk) because here, I want to report on a natural agent that has been proven effective in clinical trials against this organism.
Samento is a very specialised version of the better-known rainforest herb, Cats Claw (Uncaria tometosa), with one key and critical difference; it lacks two of the alkaloids present in the original plant, which would otherwise act to prevent other agents that are present from destroying the Borrelia bacterium.
Early trials at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, have shown how Samento works to modulate the immune system to resist this infection. In controlled trials on 28 patients suffering from advanced chronic Lyme borreliosis, at the end of eight months, 85% of those treated with Samento tested negative for the infection while those in the control group, who were treated with antibiotics, improved only slightly or not at all.
The scientists concluded the herb was working to modulate the immune system. Immune modulation is more subtle and complex than immune boosting and many believe it will become the new model for holistic health when tackling chronic and difficult to treat complaints.
Samento, which is now approved as a medicine in Ecuador where this infection is rife, is now available in supplement form in the UK from rainforest herb specialists, Rio Trading (01273-570 987). It costs £29.99 for 30 tablets and you take one a day.