Guest guest Posted January 31, 2001 Report Share Posted January 31, 2001 Hey, Steph- There has been quite an interest and a debate about the use of antibiotics for arthritis treatment on site. I am sending this along to the RA Support group I belong to online. Will call later today to see if a group of us can get together this weekend or soon! > How are you feeling? > > I heard this on the radio the other day and thought of you. This guy's > wife is a severe arthritic - was even bed-bound at one point. Interesting > ideas, and refers to the real, referreed literature and points out flaws. > > 8762 -- 11/20/00 > HOW ANTIBIOTICS TREAT ARTHRITIS > Gabe Mirkin, M.D. > Exciting new research from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands > shows how antibiotics treat arthritis. > Your intestines are loaded with good bacteria that help break down food and > prevent disease. They also contain bad bacteria that cause disease. Two > antibiotics, vancomycin and metronidazole, help kill bad bacteria, without > also killing most good bacteria. Researchers gave vancomycin to rats that > develop arthritis. The antibiotic blocked the arthritis and also caused a > huge increase in the good bacteria called E. Coli, that lives normally in > the healthy intestine. The greater the increase in E coli, the more likely > the rat was to be cured of its arthritis. > Tobramycin and colistin are two antibiotics that specifically kill the good > E. Coli that lives in healthy intestines. When the researchers gave these > two antibiotics along with the vancomycin, the arthritis symptoms worsened > and E. Coli concentrations in the intestines were markedly reduced. So the > antibiotic, vancomycin, cleared the symptoms of arthritis only when it > increased the concentration of the good E. Coli in the intestines. When > other antibiotics prevented the rise in E. coli, the antibiotics were not > effective. > This research shows that antibiotics may cure arthritis only when they kill > the bad bacteria and increase the concentration of the good bacteria that > live normally in the intestines. That means that further research will tell > us if doctors can treat arthritis with metronidazole or vancomycin, the two > antibiotics that knock of bad bacteria and increase the concentration of > the good E. Coli that live normally in everyone's intestines. These studies > have not been done. > EES Nieuwenhuis, MR Visser, A Kavelaars, PM Cobelens, A Fleer, W Harmsen, J > Verhoef, LMA Akkermans, CJ Heijnen. Oral antibiotics as a novel therapy for > arthritis - Evidence for a beneficial effect of intestinal Escherichia > coli. Arthritis and Rheumatism, 2000, Vol 43, Iss 11, pp 2583-2589Address > Heijnen CJ, Univ Utrecht, Med Ctr, Wilhelmina Childrens Hosp, Dept Pediat > Immunol, Room KC 03-068-0, Lundlaan 6, NL-3584 EA Utrecht, NETHERLANDS > > Abstract: We investigated the effects of changing the intestinal flora on > the course of adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) and on experimental > autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) by the use of oral antibiotics, Methods. > Oral treatment with either vancomycin or vancomycin, tobramycin, and > colistin was started after AIA and EAE induction, Clinical symptoms of AIA > and EAE were monitored, and microbial analysis of ileal samples was > performed. Results. Oral vancomycin treatment after disease induction > significantly decreased clinical symptoms of AIA, Simultaneously, increased > concentrations of Escherichia coli were detected in the distal ileum of > vancomycin-treated rats. Ileal concentrations of E coli were inversely > related to disease scores in rats with AIA, Coadministration of > colistin/tobramycin to prevent the increase in E coli abrogated the > beneficial effect of vancomycin on AIA. Vancomycin treatment also reduced > the clinical symptoms of EAE. Conclusion. We propose oral vancomycin as a > novel therapeutic strategy in autoimmune diseases. > Health Topics from . The Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show and DrMirkin.com. Box 10, > Kensington MD 20895 > Transcripts of segments of The Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show are provided as a > service to listeners at no charge. Dr. Mirkin's opinions and the references > cited are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or > prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor > or health care provider. > ____________________________________________ > 8713 - 11/24/00 > DIET AND THE PAIN OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS > Gabe Mirkin, M.D. > A study from Harvard School of Public Health shows that a diet loaded with > cooked vegetables and olive oil helps reduce the pain, swelling and > discomfort of rheumatoid arthritis. > Until now, there was no really good evidence that diet had anything to do > with the course of rheumatoid arthritis. No hard data support the > misconception that avoiding nightshade vegetables, such as potatoes, > tomatoes, egg plants and peppers treats arthritis. Your body makes bad > prostaglandins that cause swelling and pain and good prostaglandins that > prevent swelling and pain. Aspirin and other arthritis pain medicines > contain drugs that block the bad prostaglandins. > Cooked vegetables and olive oils contain polyunsaturated and > monounsaturated oils that are used by your body to make the good > prostaglandins that block pain and swelling. They also are loaded with > antioxidants that also help block pain and swelling. Everyone should eat > lots of vegetables, particularly those who have arthritis. > 1) A Linos, VG Kaklamani, E Kaklamani, Y Koumantaki, E Giziaki, S > Papazoglou, CS Mantzoros. Dietary factors in relation to rheumatoid > arthritis: a role for olive oil and cooked vegetables. American Journal of > Clinical Nutrition, 1999, Vol 70, Iss 6, pp 1077-1082 Mantzoros CS, Harvard > Univ, Sch Med, Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr, Div Endocrinol, Boston,MA > 02215 USA. This study confirms that children suffering from rheumatoid > arthritis have reduced serum levels of antioxidants : beta-carotene retinol > and zinc compared with healthy controls. Patients benefitted from dietary > supplements of nutrients when the dietary intake did not reach the > recommended dietary allowances. > > 2) M Helgeland, E Svendsen, O Forre, M Haugen. Dietary intake and serum > concentrations of antioxidants in children with juvenile arthritis. > Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology, 2000, Vol 18, Iss 5, pp > 637-642Address Haugen M, Oslo Natl Hosp, Ctr Rheumat Dis, Sognsvannsveien > 20, N-0027 Oslo, NORWAY > Health Topics from . The Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show and DrMirkin.com. Box 10, > Kensington MD 20895 > Transcripts of segments of The Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show are provided as a > service to listeners at no charge. Dr. Mirkin's opinions and the references > cited are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or > prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor > or health care provider. > > > 7989 > MINOCYCLINE CURES RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS > Gabe Mirkin, M.D. > An exciting study from the University of Nebraska shows that the > antibiotic, minocycline, helps to prevent joint damage in people with > rheumatoid arthritis. > Once the cartilage in your joints is damaged, it will never heal. Doctors > at the University of Nebraska treated people in the first year that they > were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Half were given conventional > treatment with pain medications, such as ibuprofen, and the standard immune > suppressants, prednisone, plaquenil, and so forth. Half were given only the > antibiotic, minocycline. Then the patients stopped taking minocycline and > all were treated in the same way for the next 3 years. Four years later, > almost all the patients who were not treated with minocycline were taking > toxic immune suppressants and had significant joint damage, while 50 > percent of those given the minocycline did not need immune suppressants. > All 6 prospective studies show that rheumatoid arthritis patients who were > given minocycline have far fewer symptoms and lower rheumatoid factors than > those treated with placebo. There are no blinded prospective studies to > show that minocycline doesn't work. > JR ODell, G sen, CE Haire, K Blakely, W Palmer, S Wees, PJ Eckhoff, LW > Klassen, M Churchill, D Doud, A Weaver, GF . Treatment of early > seropositive rheumatoid arthritis with minocycline - Four-year followup of > a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.Arthritis and Rheumatism, 1999, > Vol 42, Iss 8, pp 1691-1695. > Health Reports from The Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show and DrMirkin.com > Transcripts of segments of The Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show are provided as a > service to listeners at no charge. Dr. Mirkin's opinions and the references > cited are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or > prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor > or health care provider. > > > Are you on Fosamax for osteoporosis? > > His website is http://www.drmirkin.com > > I find it amusing that his name is mirkin. A mirkin is a pubic hair wig. > > Were we going to get together this past weekend and do dinner Dutch? Or > something? > > Have you been watching Survivor2? > > > > Steph > C. , M.Ln., DMAHIP > Saginaw ative Hospitals, Inc. > 1000 Houghton Ave. > Saginaw MI 48602-5398 schi.org > 517/583-6846 Fax: 517/583-6898 Email: johnste@... > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 1, 2001 Report Share Posted February 1, 2001 please check out www.roadback.org-- no controversy there regarding antibiotics. See Guest Book, Online Support, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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