Dr. Mercola here, welcoming you to another Question & Answer Video Update. Today’s question comes to us from Brian in London, who wonders if the overuse of antibiotics can actually be a cause of rheumatoid arthritis.

I happen to have a great deal of interest in rheumatoid arthritis, extending back to my initial encounter with it, after I had viewed a segment about it on 60 Minutes in the late 1980’s. Dr. Brown, who spoke in this piece, had a very controversial treatment for this disease, which involved the use of antibiotics to treat rheumatoid arthritis, which he had effectively done for a number of years. I think he had successfully treated over 10,000 patients, which really intrigued me at the time.

So, I began using the treatment in my own practice. Over the last 15 or 16 years, I’ve personally treated somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 of these patients, and I would say, the vast majority, well over 80% of them, had improved. Over time, as I learned more and more about natural medicine, this treatment of Dr. Brown’s has evolved considerably, having added my own modifications, which seemed to improve the treatment even further.

Interestingly, Dr. Brown’s theory was that rheumatoid arthritis is actually caused by an infection, a type of Mycoplasma, which is a submicroscopic infection that gets into the joints and tissues. I’ve written an extensive paper on this subject, and gave a presentation about ten years ago in Boston to one of the scientific groups about this; there’s a link here so you can read more about this. It also includes my protocol, which contains modifications of Dr. Brown’s regimen.

To reiterate, basically, the theory, which has considerable scientific support, is that the Mycoplasma organism gets into the tissue and causes the rheumatoid-related problems. What I’ve learned over the years is that there are a number of simple, basic factors that need to be addressed to successfully treat not only rheumatoid arthritis, but multiple sclerosis as well, because in many respects, they are very similar diseases, though they manifest differently. Of course, MS is a potentially-crippling, neurological disorder, not associated with the joint deformities of rheumatoid arthritis. However, what seems to be central to both diseases are several primary factors which are typically missed by almost every doctor treating these diseases.

The first is, in both diseases, the patient’s vitamin D levels are almost universally low. It’s very, very rare to see a patient with MS or rheumatoid who does not have incredibly low vitamin D levels. If you have either of these conditions, your vitamin D level should be measured regularly, and should measure between around 50 and 55. These patients should do everything in their power to normalize their vitamin D levels. Most of these patients have vitamin D levels somewhere between 10 and 20, which is clearly a contributing factor. The best way to obtain enough vitamin D is through appropriate exposure to sun, not by taking oral vitamin D supplements.

The second most common factor in both MS and rheumatoid arthritis, one I’ve seen consistently, time and time again, is that there is almost always an emotional insult, a severe, emotional trauma in that person’s life before the age of five. Typically, all the traditional counseling in the world does not effectively address this. What we have found to be particularly helpful in this regard is a powerful, energy-psychology technique called, “Emotional Freedom Technique”, or EFT. To learn more about EFT, follow the link.

The third component to improving from these diseases is optimizing the diet. If you’ve been reading information on the website for any length of time, you already know that there is no single, perfect diet for everyone; we all have unique metabolic requirements based on our specific genetics. For many years, we have been using Metabolic Typing, which is a system designed to provide understanding into which foods an individual needs to eat. For example, perhaps you need to emphasize proteins and fats and low carbs, or the reverse, which would be high carbs, low protein and fats. Or, you may fall somewhere in the middle.

Interestingly, there’s a fourth key factor in getting to the root causes. I’ve seen this in a significant number, though certainly not the majority, of patients. Root canals can be a source of infection which can contribute to rheumatoid arthritis. This does not seem to be as much a factor in MS. If there are any mercury fillings in the teeth, this can also be a source of mercury poisoning, which can lead to worsening of the nervous dysfunction seen in MS.

Finally, the fifth piece of critical information for both rheumatoid and MS patients, and this is to ensure you have adequate omega-3 fatty acids, because DHA and EPA are profoundly helpful for normalizing the immune dysfunction that seems to be a major contributing factor in both rheumatoid arthritis and MS.

Paying close attention to these five factors will go a long way towards solving the root causes of this disease:

•  Optimizing vitamin D levels.
•  Effectively addressing emotional trauma.
•  Eating correctly for your individual metabolic type.
•  Resolving issues of root canals and mercury fillings with a qualified, holistic dentist.
•  Getting sufficient amounts of high-quality omega-3 fatty acids.

I hope this is helpful for Brian and our other viewers, who may personally have, or know someone with, either of these diseases. I’d like to thank Brian for his question. We’ll send him a link, so that he is able to learn his unique metabolic type and so, enjoy improvement of health and well being.