Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatologist Brisbane Complementary Support
Do you have Rheumatoid Arthritis or chronic joint pain? If you're looking for some natural solutions that safely complement treatments prescribed by your doctors or Rheumatologist in Brisbane, Ananda Mahony is a Naturopath with a special interest in supporting chronic pain.
Dysbiosis, out of balance gut bacteria, bad bugs…it seems like our gut bugs are always in the news as being linked to many health conditions, and now that list might include Rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory joint pain. Our gut bugs, which are the major source of microbes in our body can exert both beneficial and negative effects on our health. One area that is emerging in particular, is the role that the composition of our gut microbes can have on inflammation, either driving it or dampening it down and this may have implications for inflammatory rheumatic diseases.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterised by persistent inflammation which leads to damage to joints. There is frequently (60-70%) a genetic inherited risk with RA however risk alone doesn’t determine disease development, rather, development is driven by environmental triggers, of which a number of bacteria and virus types have been considered but no confirmed links have been made.
With Rheumatoid Arthritis the question then becomes, “what is driving the inflammation?”
There is growing evidence to support the idea that the onset of RA may be related to changes to our microbiota, both in the gastrointestinal tract and the oral microbiota (our mouth bacteria.)
Findings to support the idea that microbial changes may be driving inflammation in RA and inflammatory joint pain are growing:
- Changes in gut microbial composition of those with early stage RA differ significantly from those that don’t have the condition. When doing "gut bug testing" or microbiome screening on the gut bugs with people with Rheumatoid Arthritis, they commonly have reductions in bacteria belonging to the Bifidobacterium family and increases in Prevotella. It is these changes that may actually be driving immune changes creating inflammation.
- Support for this idea also comes from the knowledge that diet has been shown to reduce inflammation in people with Rheumatoid Arthritis, as have some medications that have anti-microbial effects. These changes have resulted in partial restoration of their gut microbiota composition, leading to reductions in inflammation and pain levels.
- Studies are showing increased prevalence of periodontitis - gum disease and dental disease and RA disease severity, which supports the disordered "mouth bugs" theory
- Environmental factors that may influence the oral microbiome, diet, stress and smoking also impact RA.
