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Curing an Incurable
Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis
Omaha, NE
 At
17, I started experiencing pain and stiffness in the joints of my
fingers. The doctor diagnosed bursitis and gave me cortisone shots
in my fingers. By the time I was in my early 30s I was in constant
pain, unable to turn a doorknob, squeeze a toothpaste tube or lift
my own legs onto the bed. I decided if this was how I would have
to live, then I didn't want to live. I was put in the hospital
and tests revealed I had rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid disease.
I was started on gold shots weekly along with prednisone, Plaquenil,
Naprosyn, Synthroid, and Pamelor. Within 12 years I had had 3 surgeries
to repair damage to my ankle, finally pinning it to immobilize it.
I had a cane, walker and crutches to use depending on my pain and
level of mobility that day. I was put on disability about six years
ago, but I still had to work part time to live. I decided where
to shop by who had an electric cart, because I couldn't manage
to walk around a store, and seldom did I have the energy to do more
than one activity a day.
I had heard that animal protein was especially bad for arthritis,
but just couldn't imagine giving up the diet I had always eaten
– although I had cut my beef consumption down to 2-3 times
a month. As a confirmed carnivore, I just didn't really believe
my diet was important – I didn't want to believe it. However,
over the last couple of years I have noticed I felt worse after
eating beef, and it just seemed to lie in my stomach, yuck! This
past Memorial Day I ate a big piece of dead cow and just felt terrible
– the pain level was more than I could take. I decided to look
on the internet for some vegetarian dishes – maybe to just
try occasionally. The first place my search took me was Dr. McDougall's
site and there was an article about the effects of animal protein
and oil on arthritis. That article spoke to my soul – I became
dedicated to the program from that moment.
WOW! What a difference! In the first week I only had to use my
crutches 3 times and just for the first five minutes right after
getting up. I could walk around a store and work in my yard (this
is my first love). Last year I could only drag a chair to a spot
in my garden and work right there for a little while. After the
first week on the diet, I could work in my garden for two hours
and it felt good. The first month I lost 17 pounds. And I was so
surprised by how much I was enjoying the food. I still would not
tell a soul because I have failed on so many "diets."
I didn't want to start and just fail again. Now I find out
that once I quit dieting and started to LIVE – everything is
just getting better.
In two short months I find I can work my half day job, shop at
3 or 4 stores (under my own power) and then work in my garden without
tiring, as long as I want. My pain level has become manageable and
I have started walking every evening. Last night I walked a half
a mile!! My cane is in the trunk of the car and the crutches gathering
dust unused. I have lost close to 30 pounds and my blood pressure
dropped 20 points the first 2 months (it was 158/94). My children
are taking me on a trip in September – 3 days at Disney World
and 4 days on a Disney Cruise. I was so frightened before I started
Dr. McDougall's program. How was I going to manage that trip??
But now, I can't wait to go!!!
I'm now 50 years old and thankful that I have a new chance
at life. I know I need to lose a boatload of weight – but for
the first time in my life I'm not even worried – I know
it will just come off. I was raised in your basic meat and potatoes
household. My dad was big on hunting and fishing and we always ate
what he brought home. My mom likes to tell the story about how we
ate a bear all one winter. Life could be hard and sometimes frightening
as I grew up, but whenever there was fun in our family, it always
revolved around food. I can remember waking up in the middle of
the night to eat perch freshly fried or corn just from the field.
Grandma became my cheerleader encouraging me to eat "just one
more piece," until I had eaten half a large pizza.
Not surprisingly, I was fat by the time I entered school. I remember
hiding under my desk in the first grade because the teacher was
weighing everyone in the front of the class. I was over 100 pounds.
Over the years I continued to gain, occasionally dropping a good
chunk of weight only to put it back on and more. I tried Atkins,
Weight Watchers, Tops, the baby food diet and counted a zillion
calories. When I weighted in at 220 lb. at my first OB appointment
for my 3rd child, the doctor looked at me and said with disgust,
"How did you let yourself get so fat?" Adding another
log to the fire of shame that was my constant companion. One time
I was asked to assist with a division of the Miss America pageant,
but I declined because I didn't feel I was worthy to be around women
so thin and beautiful.
My future has all changed. I'm not hopelessly ill and out
of control anymore. The food is great, and so much variety –
from quick and simple to gourmet. Even going to a restaurant hasn't
been a problem. The message board is just great and I feel like
the people there are my friends. Dr. McDougall's books have
become my daily source of knowledge and encouragement. I would strongly
and loudly encourage anyone to try this program. What do you have
to lose besides aches pains and dangerous unwanted pounds. Gotta
go, time for my walk.
"The truth about diet and arthritis may surprise you. It
is simply this: There is NO special diet for arthritis. No specific
food has anything to do with causing it. And no special diet will
cure it." Although their intention may have been to keep
people away from useless advice, these words, published in the
1970s by the Arthritis Foundation, ultimately condemned millions
of people to suffer agonizing pain and the side effects of medications,
hundreds of thousands to die prematurely, and billions of dollars
spent for ineffective standard medical treatments. To this day,
the Arthritis Foundation has done almost nothing to correct this
damaging information.
When I first read these words in a brochure
published by the Arthritis Foundation, I assumed the research
supporting such a definite statement must be monumental –
after all, their effects would ultimately stop any patient, and
their physician, from looking any further into diet for relief
of their disabling condition. On the contrary, my research of
the scientific literature in the late 1970s failed to find a single
article to support their statement against diet therapy. In fact,
I found studies that found the opposite: diet can cause serious
arthritis, like rheumatoid arthritis, and a change in diet usually
benefits, and sometimes cures, people with these life-threatening
conditions. You can do the same research for free at the National
Library of Medicine at www.nlm.nih.gov.
On my home page, (www.drmcdougall.com)
you will find an article I wrote titled "Diet: Only hope
for arthritis." This is a scientific discussion on how diet
causes many forms of inflammatory arthritis and how a proper diet
can often cure these conditions. You will also find 23 studies
that show a change in diet can greatly benefit people with inflammatory
arthritis, like rheumatoid arthritis. Since this article was written,
2 more studies have been published showing similar results:
Hafstrom I. A vegan diet free of gluten
improves the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis: the effects
on arthritis correlate with a reduction in antibodies to food
antigens.
Rheumatology (Oxford). 2001 Oct;40(10):1175-9.
McDougall J. Effects of a very low-fat,
vegan diet in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis. J Altern Complement
Med. 2002 Feb;8(1):71-5.
The failure of the Arthritis Foundation,
and almost every rheumatologist (arthritis doctor), to encourage
people to try a change in diet first, might be forgiven if there
were effective alternatives, like medications. Unfortunately,
the most high-tech, modern medications available today never cure
arthritis, are relatively ineffective at even moderating the progress
of the disease, have serious, and sometimes fatal, side effects,
and can cost more than $10,000 a year to take. Compare these facts
to the results from a change to a low-fat, pure vegetarian diet,
which often cures arthritis with no side effects, reduces food
bills by about 40%, and without a doubt, has many other health
benefits (less cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and always relieves
constipation).
If you are bold enough, next time you have
the opportunity, ask an arthritis "specialist" for a
single scientific study (not just someone's opinion) that
shows diet fails to help people with arthritis – then compare
their response with the evidence I have shown you, and you be
the judge. Do your part and tell your suffering friends there
is help for people afflicted with most forms of inflammatory arthritis
(rheumatoid, Lupus, psoriatic, ankylosing spondylitis, and non-specific
kinds of joint pains). It is cost-free (and profit free) and a
lot easier than spending a miserable life in a wheelchair.
Even though these results do not occur
with everyone, they are typical for people who make the diet and
lifestyle changes recommended by the McDougall Program.
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