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CASE HISTORY: RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
by Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum
By now, after having read so many of my case histories, you should be fairly aware that our first step in addressing any autoimmune condition consists in recalibrating the immune system, or as Vaidya would say “restoring its intelligence”: supporting and allowing it to regain its normal functioning. This is the key.
Always keep in mind that whenever we are confronted with the name of a specific disease, whether it is in our own body, or that of a patient, we have to keep perspective. The name ofthe disease actually doesn’t tell you much. We don’t need to focus on these scary names! Whether it is Sjrogen’s, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Ulcerative Colitis or any other disease: don’t panic, don’t think in terms of this disease’s name or how to deal with it. You must learn to think outside the box and first consider: what are all the imbalances – from the SV ayurvedic perspective – that are causing this disease, and how can I address them? In fact, I have learned through the years to think of these diseases as symptoms only… left to build up inside the physiology to eventually acquire the status of an identifiable conditions.
Why am I asking you to think this way? The truth is that, for any one of these diseases, even though dozens will have been identified to have the same disease, the approach to each individual with the same disease will be different, because it all depends on the underlying cause(s). This is why you could have 20 patients with Multiple Sclerosis or Rheumatoid Arthritis or Hashimoto’s, etc., and every single patient will present with their own unique set of imbalances yet resulting in what is categorized or identified as one disease. Each patient that comes to see me walks away with their own specific protocol to follow. While there are basic guidelines and steps that Vaidya taught us, that can benefit most of us since we live in the same culture and consume similar foods etc, each patient will need to start their healing journey from a point that is unique to their own path. So we cannot have pre-set protocols for diseases. You can learn the underlying SVA principles and foundational aspects, so you can tailor each one to an individual’s needs.
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This is how I have been successful at addressing all these conditions over the years. It is less intimidating to work at reducing the symptoms and tracing them to their specific imbalances, and focus on addressing those first.
So, for example, in this case, this patient reported to me that her ANA titers were high. The ANA titers are an indicator that autoimmune reactions are going on inside the body. In her case, she had taken numerous antibiotics as a child, which disrupted her gut micro-biome. She then wound up with numerous yeast infections, which were treated with antibiotics at first, and then Nystatin — always trying to kill the yeast, rather than focusing on re-growing the friendly bacteria which would kill off the yeast overgrowth.
She then went to holistic doctors who tried to kill her yeast with grapefruit seed extract, Pau D’arco tea and garlic supplements. As these various practitioners focused on trying to kill the yeast, they unwittingly kept destroying more and more of the friendly bacteria. Not only that, these numerous antibiotics, antifungals, herbs, garlic and antimicrobial herbs all had the additional side effect of creating excessive heat in the liver. As the years went by, she was thrust deeper and deeper into a health quagmire as these incorrect approaches were taken.
I remember Vaidya once saying, “Our approach isn’t to kill the infection, we don’t want to kill these pathogens in the gut — we just want to create an environment where the bad guys leave town on their own!” Our initial focus, in her case, was to cool down the liver heat with our liver cooling herbs (DGL Cream on the liver and Bhumi Amla drops in the water). We also helped her regrow her friendly bacteria using Natren’s probiotics for several months. She was allergic to numerous foods, including dairy products, so she wasn’t able to eat yogurt or drink lassi. Once we pacified her liver and gut, her food sensitivities went away, as is the case with most of our patients who present with food allergies. It only took two months for here yeast overgrowth to disappear!
Whenever there is a history of excessive use of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals, it is good to use Guduchi, especially in the nectar drop or transdermal cream form, as these do not aggravate the liver like the crude herb of guduchi leaf may do. Guduchi is great for eliminating residues of these old pharmaceuticals which get stuck in the body and disturb the immune system.
You may also use Guduchi Sattwa, which is made from the starchy alkaline stem of the Guduchi plant, juiced and then dried into a powder. This will also aid in recalibrating the immune system’s function as it can clean all 7 tissues (dhatus) as well as the liver.
And then finally we can give herbs like Shringh Bhasma to heal the cartilage, Boswellia to calm down the inflammation, and Nirgundi to heal the joints.
Also: you should not be discouraged if months go by and the patient is still somewhat symptomatic. Make sure they stay the course, watch their diet, get in the sunshine, exercise and go to bed early. Many of these autoimmune cases can take a few years to reverse, but again, keep in mind what you are trying to accomplish: you are taking an immune system which has spiraled out of control through the years and are trying to restore its intelligence so it can function the way it is meant to.
This is something modern medicine cannot do since its understanding of the human physiology is, unlike the ayurvedic perspective, non-inclusive of many subtle factors and functions. Modern medicine can only help by prescribing medicines (biologics) that will shut down the immune system so as to arrest the symptoms. These medications can take away the symptoms fairly quickly but do nothing to actually fix the underlying problem, and the whole thing can, depending on the individual, escalade into a different, most times more aggressive, condition.
Good luck addressing these autoimmune imbalances. They are complicated, but very rewarding. You and your patients will be thrilled as their blood work returns to normal and pain levels disappear. You are truly giving them a whole new lease on life, and they will be forever grateful.
Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum
Cinnaminson, New Jersey
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