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A BRIEFING ON THE ARTHRITIC PROCESS: UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOIMMUNE PROCESS AND THE AUTOIMMUNE-ARTHRITIC PROCESS – STEP-BY-STEP
Now it might be useful to explain autoimmune processes in genera] with greater clarity. A keen understanding can be very useful in everyday life. Let’s start with a simple step-by-step explanation of the arthritic process because that applies to virtually every human autoimmune process and virtually all diseases with autoimmune factors.
The Autoimmune-Arthritic Process – Step-By-Step
The following is an overview of the autoimmune-arthritic process. The process is explained in eleven steps. It all starts with initiation of altered autoimmune system function.
1. First, infection, trauma, or excessive wear affects the joints. The usual infections are rheumatic fever, flu, or bacteria. Traumas include events such as, jolts or injuries from auto wrecks, falls, sports injuries, jogging, etc. Excessive joint wear comes from being overweight, or from repetitive use of keyboards, jackhammers, knitting needles, screwdrivers etc.
2. The effects of #1 cause damaged or infected cartilage particles to be dislodged from their normal site. This happens regardless of whether it’s rheumatoid, reactive, or osteoarthritis.
3. Macrophages of the immune system begin a cleanup of these dislodged cartilage particles. That’s a normal part of their job.
4. Macrophages report their activities to dormant memory T-cells, which are the commanding “generals” of the immune system that direct the activities of other immune cells.
5. The reports from the macrophages activate the dormant memory T-cells, then develop aggressive anti-cartilage cleanup programs. Unfortunately, these programs do not distinguish between healthy and damaged cartilage.
7. The increased memory T-cell population continues to stimulate more macrophage activity, and the self-perpetuating cycle of cartilage destruction expands. Because the memory T-cell programs don’t limit macrophage activity to damaged cartilage only, destruction of healthy cartilage also occurs. It has now developed into a destructive autoimmune process. But, until sufficient cartilage has been destroyed, symptoms are not evident. The individual is unaware that the destructive process is occurring.
8. The initiating factor (infection, trauma, weight) taking place in # 1, may have disappeared many months or years ago, but the destructive autoimmune process remains active. It is self perpetuating and no longer dependent upon the initiating factor. When this happens it has become a pure autoimmune disease.
9. The cycle is compounded by the fact that the mechanism which should deactivate certain memory T-cells (those that have completed their mission) fails to function. The constant macrophage re-stimulation of the memory T-cells keeps them active. The memory T-cells also re-stimulate each other. So now there is an overabundance of memory T-cells propelling macrophage cartilage destruction. The immune system is now totally out of control and massive cartilage destruction often begins. Early symptoms of pain and inflammation often appear.
10. Cartilage destruction accelerates. The cycle reaches an explosive critical mass. Macrophages are now scouring the body to find and destroy any cartilage anywhere it can be found. Symptoms become more severe. Pain, inflammation, and joint deformity intensify at old sites and now appear at new sites as they suffer macrophage attacks. Any or all joints may be affected, including the spine.
11. Symptoms of pain, stiffness, swelling, nodules, and deformation often reach intolerable and crippling levels-especially as joint cartilage disappears and bone-on-bone erosion occurs. Conventional arthritis medications also take their toll on the liver, kidneys, and heart. Normal life span is often shortened by ten or twenty years not only from the ravages of arthritis, but from the side effects of both prescription and over-the-counter medications as well.
By deactivating the memory T-cells, CMO intervention (the sooner the better) can stop the autoimmune process at any point.
Current medical dogma holds that only rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. On the contrary, the above explanation makes it evident that osteoarthritis is an autoimmune disease as well. The sooner the medical community accepts that fact, the better they may be able to treat their arthritis patients effectively.
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