The simplicity of healing arthritis
Coming from a long line of people who have been afflicted with all manners of arthritis, it is common knowledge that you deal with, and not heal, arthritis. As a group, you learn the importance of exercising regularly, managing your weight, taking your medication on time, using the cold and hot therapy wisely, trying supplements, essential oils, massage, meditation — in short, anything that has helped anyone before you. And let me guarantee you that there is no guarantee you will feel better, leave alone get better, after following this entire list or any combination therewith.
At such a helpless juncture to meet a functional medicine expert, one of the frontrunners in the field actually, who claims to have found a way to do just that is a godsend. What also helps is her previous track record with her first tome The Immune System Recovery Plan: A Doctor's 4-Step Program to Treat Autoimmune Disease that purported to share “her proven four-step programme to treat, reverse, and prevent autoimmune conditions and repair your immune system” and actually worked for several people — first and foremost Dr Susan Blum, which she then tested successfully on several longsuffering patients.
In this new tome, her focus is on giving the readers a threestep protocol said to be designed to address more minutely the primary causes of the arthritic condition and heal the body permanently. She claims to do this by: (1) Treating the kind of Arthritis you have, wherein she first explains the different types of arthritis that are there, (2) Healing the gut to heal the joints, and (3) Working with food to reduce inflammation without medication. The pioneering system stands strong on a plan spanning across two weeks that should work to rapidly reduce pain through a combination of intake of antiinflammatory supplements and foods, thorough repair of the gut and reinforcement of the gastrointestinal (GI) system for a remarkable improvement in the various painful symptoms.
I know people living with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) for over a decade who never knew that diary, sugar or gluten are so harmful for their condition. Equipped with this knowhow when patients allow their bodies, more importantly their gut, to heal them is when the supposed miracle happens. It is really such simple elimination tips incorporated in your diet that make it work, as also the inclusion of some additives like probiotics (curds), turmeric (curcumin) and fish oils.
The book braces bravely to also address the part that emotional distress plays in contributing to inflammation and the importance of dealing with that effectively for an overhaul of health. A competent woman of science never forgets the significance of detailed case studies, and neither has Dr Blum. She goes one step further by sharing her own story, from sickness to health, to inspire others to take up their own well-being causes without delay.
Many of us already, or will, suffer from some form of arthritis in our lifetime, but that’s no reason now to hold on to the painkillers, physiotherapies, hot water and ice bags only. The holistic approach prescribed by the book talks about lifestyle changes that begin at home and not a clinic, and while they are not at all easy (in fact, they demand quite a few changes and adjustments other than lots of discipline) the end result is better health that is worth its weight in gold. If those of us who are ailing with arthritis are as tenacious as Dr Blum was in her journey through the disease, we have hope of a better quality of health and living.