Arthritis can be debilitating. In fact, arthritis and rheumatoid conditions are the leading cause of disability among US adults for the past 15 years. So when your doctor is assessing your spine and joints and makes mention of ‘normal degenerative changes,’ that should be a clue to find another doctor.
There’s nothing normal about arthritis and join degeneration. For your body to be in an active destruction of a joint, especially when not trauma induced, there’s a whole mess of ‘not normal’ going on.
The major problem with traditional healthcare is that they see the arthritic changes and resultant pain as the problem. I would argue they are the effect of many other processes in your body giving you a repeated fighting chance of survival and a breaking point happens. But for 98% of us, it’s not random chance and we’re not part of the unlucky club.
There are 3 ‘I’s’ that your primary or rheumatologist fail to address when assessing and treating arthritis. Actually, they talk a lot about one of them, but their solutions actually cause more imbalance and worsen the condition long term.
Intestinal Permeability:
Your rheumatologist may compartmentalize your gut as just a function of digestion. And if that’s the case, find a new doctor. The point being is that your gut is one of your first line of defenses in your immune expression. This is mediated through an expression of one of your immunoglobulins, SIgA (Secretor IgA).