Addressing Rheumatoid Arthritis With Functional Medicine - Dr. Angela Carlson, ND

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis, also referred to as “RA”, is a chronic autoimmune disorder that behaves in some ways like standard arthritis, impacting many joints, including those in the hands and feet.

Unlike other forms of arthritis (such as standard arthritis or osteoarthritis), joint damage is typically mirrored on both sides of the body in Rheumatoid arthritis. Also the lining of your joints are impacted, causing a painful swelling that can eventually result in bone erosion and deformity.

The inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis is what can damage other parts of the body as well. While medications only help somewhat with symptoms, severe rheumatoid arthritis can still cause physical disabilities.

About 40 percent of the people who have rheumatoid arthritis also experience painful symptoms that don’t involve the joints.

Rheumatoid arthritis can affect:

Skin
Eyes
Lungs
Heart
Kidneys
Salivary glands
Nerve tissue
Bone marrow
Blood vessels

The Conventioal Medicine Approach

Rheumatoid arthritis can be hard to diagnose in its early stages because the early signs and symptoms mimic symptoms of many other illnesses. There is no one blood test or physical finding to confirm the diagnosis.

Diagnosing RA typically requires a physical exam of your joints, along with determining your range of motion and checking for tenderness as well as muscle strength.

Doing the appropriate blood test to check for certain markers like elevated antibodies, normally present in autoimmune conditions.

 X-rays, MRI and ultrasound tests may be used to track the progression or assess the severity of the disease in your body.

Instead of dealing with the root causes of this condition (there is no one cause), you will most likely be prescribed extremely expensive medications including injectable biologics, that may temporarily ease symptoms. However, this treatment path does nothing to deal with the many imbalances and lifestyle factors that need to be corrected to stop the progression of RA.

The Functional Medicine Approach

The functional medicine approach to treating RA is a far more holistic approach. Instead of assessing the progression of your condition, Dr. Angela works to discover the root causes and adjusts the lifestyle and biological imbalances that are at the core of illness progression. 

At Infinite Wellness. we start with a far more thorough assessment of your past medical testing, past medical history including any past illnesses, nutrition, and anything that could play a role in RA.  

Gut imbalances play a huge role in all autoimmune cases, and this one of many areas that conventional practitioners typically miss because they haven’t been trained in microbial testing in medical school.

When dealing with RA, conventional medicine only covers a small piece of the testing necessary to understand everything impacting your RA. With functional medicine testing, we can assess all the markers that cause progression and flare-ups. Functional medicine testing excels in the area of autoimmune disease, because it provides very detailed information that helps your practitioner create a very personalized healing protocol.

Our team at Infinite Wellness works with clients, case-by-case, to determine what additional testing is needed. One of the key components that many conventionally trained doctors miss and fail to test.

Take The First Step On Your

Journey Back To Health

Do you have questions you’d like to ask before you make a decision to become a client? Set up a free 30-minute Strategy Call with Dr. Angela Carlson, ND to explore your case, no obligation.

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