Rheumatoid arthritis affects about one percent of our population and at least two million Americans have definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis. This number has increased in recent years, as in 2010 about 2.5 percent of white women developed RA.

It is a much more devastating illness than previously appreciated. Most patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a progressive disability.

The natural course of rheumatoid arthritis is quite remarkable in that less than one percent of people with the disease have a spontaneous remission. Some disability occurs in 50-70 percent of people within five years after onset of the disease, and half will stop working within 10 years. The annual cost of this disease in the U.S. is estimated to be over $1 billion.

This devastating prognosis is what makes this novel form of treatment so exciting, as it has a far higher likelihood of succeeding than the conventional approach. Over the years I have treated over 3,000 patients with rheumatic illnesses, including SLE, scleroderma, polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

Dr. Allan Sachs: "My first column on autoimmune disease appeared in the Poughkeepsie Journal and provided a basic overview of autoimmune diseases. Here is a summary of the major points from that article...":

Medicine focuses almost entirely on fighting chronic diseases in a piecemeal fashion as symptoms develop. Instead, more efforts should be directed to promoting interventions that have the potential to prevent multiple chronic diseases and extend healthy lifespans.

Researchers writing in the journal Nature say that by treating the metabolic and molecular causes of human aging, it may be possible to help people stay healthy into their 70s and 80s.

Had mankind not sinned in the Garden of Eden, he would not have experienced disease and sickness.

But he did and since that time the human body has been vulnerable to thousands of aliments to deal with throughout life our life time.

In the Bible we are taught various ways to minimize and avoid physical illness and what to do when illness comes. We cannot read the Scriptures without learning that God does care about disease and sickness and desires that we be healed. The prophet Isaiah quoted in Matthew 8 says, “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”

God’s Word illustrates several pathways for the healing of the sick. One of these that we sometimes consider of little importance is the healing that can come from the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and bark of the 500,000 plus plants many of which God placed incredible healing properties.

Arthritis, with over 100 different types, affects some 65 million Americans. It has long been considered an inevitable part of the aging process. For many years people have been told by their doctors to exercise less, take something for the pain, and learn to live with the disease.

But a great deal has been learned in recent years about the cause and treatment of various forms of arthritis. New understanding has led to new and better methods of treatment. New research shows that the joints of the body develop arthritis because they fail to get the proper circulation of blood, thus hindering nutrient supply to the joints. It could be said that arthritic joints suffer from improper nutrition.

First let’s take a look a medical perspective of rheumatoid arthritis so that we have an idea about what the body is doing and then we’ll take a look at the emotional belief that allows it to happen.  I like this particular page because it provides some drawings so that you can see what is happening. If you visualize in your self-healing practice, you may find the drawings to be helpful. Here is how rheumatoid arthritis was described: