Evening Primrose Oil by judy graham

Author:judy graham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

12. RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND OTHER INFLAMMATORY DISORDERS

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease affecting connective tissue, mainly of joints. It can be very painful, and affects about one person in twenty in Britain at some time. The figure rises dramatically after the age of sixty-five. Some people are seriously crippled by the disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis begins as an inflammation in the membrane—known as the synovial membrane—that produces the fluid that lubricates bone joints. The cause of the original inflammation is uncertain, but RA is classified as an auto-immune disease; one where the body is mistakenly attacking itself.

One characteristic feature is a small nodule of inflamed fibrous tissue just under the skin, which feels very tender. Any organ may be affected, and RA is a systemic disease, which means it can affect the whole body. However, the most common symptoms arise from inflammation of the fibrous connective tissue around the joints. The knuckle joints and wrists tend to suffer most. The disease is more common in women than in men.

The immediate damage to joints is thought to be due to the release of destructive enzymes, called lysosomal enzymes, from inflamed cells. It is these enzymes which are thought to be destroying cartilage and bone, though there is still research going on in this area.

A shortage of essential fatty acids, and inflammation

If your body is short of essential fatty acids it can lay you open to inflammation or infection, and your immune system is quite likely to go wonky too. That’s how important essential fatty acids are!

In rheumatoid arthritis, a disorder of inflammation and immunity, it seems that the body is producing too many of the wrong kind of prostaglandins, and not nearly enough of the right ones. So there are 2 series prostaglandins in profusion, but not enough of the heroic PGEl. 1 And that’s not surprising, because if there are no essential fatty acids getting through the system, no PGEl can be made, as PGEl comes from essential fatty acids and can’t be made without them.

The hordes of 2 series prostaglandins are usually on the scene of crime when there’s some local inflammation around. Unlike their good cousins, PGEl, there’s no shortage of 2 series PGs because they’re made differently. They’re derived from arachidonic acid (found in foods like meat and dairy produce), whereas PGEl owes its existence to the essential fatty acids which will metabolize into gammalinolenic acid and dihomo-gammalinolenic acid as long as they don’t get lost on the way.

When PGEl is in short supply, the immune system is one of the first to feel the pinch. After all, PGEl has a very important job in controlling T-lymphocyte production, 9 and the T-lymphocytes are the body’s crack troops. It’s as if the front line has gone absent without leave, and the body gets muddled as to who’s on it’s side, and who it should be sending salvos to. So it looks as though the missing PGEl has a lot to answer for: hordes of 2 series PGs, and the odd behaviour of T-suppressor cells.

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