Once again what is initially put up is misleading people there are no root causes to RA. No one in the realm of science knows where or what causes RA yet your wording says these are the 7 root causes to RA. Legitimate research once again comes from the American Academy of Rheumatologists and Mayo Cleveland Clinic or NIH. I will never accept research from a link tells people not to eat meat. Meat is Heme nutrient rich and in moderation is important to everyone’s diet according to Mayo Clinic. I am not trying to be mean. But demeaning the rheumatologist is wrong all you have to do is ask they are happy to help share their wealth of knowledge! They have more knowledge then any of us on here that’s for sure.

Thank you Maggie. Unless we explore these options- we won't know how any of them or a combination may work for each of us. Definitely our main rheumatologist should know of anything we want to or decide to try and talk it over first to make sure any of our therapies/meds do not clash or contradict each other in any negative way.

And things are still being learned from how we respond to stuff. Feedback is important.

Jayne, I know you wrote this to Nancy, but I wanted to add something here so I hope you don't mind.

I'm adding information for everyone from a Rheumatologist who is a patient and a Rheumatologist who is better due to those things he has incorporated into his life which he passes on to his patients. This is what he uses at his clinic to help the patients become symptom-free or minimize their symptoms. He also practices Western Medicine and uses the medications that many of us take. Will this work for everyone, of course not. The medications our Rheumatologists prescribe for us may or may not work for each of us either. As I said before, we all have a unique system. Why not try this approach?

Dr. Yu is a rheumatologist that combines the fields of lifestyle medicine, functional medicine, and integrative medicine. His unique model of care and expertise is very rare. Very few physicians, if any, have undergone extensive training in these different fields.

What Methods Do I Use?
I combined many of these medicines to make a custom plan that works best for each patient.

1. Allopathic Medicine

This field of medicine is also commonly described as conventional medicine or Western medicine. Typically, it is used to contrast with alternative medicine and is known as science-based, modern medicine.

2. Lifestyle Medicine

Lifestyle Medicine explores the root causes of disease with evidence-based therapies such as diet, exercise, sleep, social connectivity, and stress.

3. Integrative Medicine

This field of medicine looks to combine the best of conventional medicine with the best of alternative medicine to create an integrative approach. Integrative medicine consists of nutrition, herbs, supplements, Ayurveda, mind-body medicine, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, aromatherapy, etc.

4. Functional Medicine

The philosophy of functional medicine is to get to the root cause of disease. It looks at a patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors to produce a personalized treatment plan.

I am so impressed with all this informative information. This is how we learn, share and keep up with what's going on with RA and other autoimmune diseases. A Rheumatologist can answer a lot of questions but they are pretty much on the clock so it is very important for patients go on line and find out what works and what doesn't. Also there are great many research studies that are very informative.

Interesting. I can only try to affect stress and diet. The rest just IS.

Keeping our heads and heart focused and positive is best. Planning our the day instead of just bumbling through it. Finding things that motivates us. Having positive friends and family that don't drag us down or suck the life from us. Tell them. Change the attitude or beat it...life is to short to be tormented on a daily basis.
Short of living in a hazmat suit I can't fix the environment.

Getting bitten by a little dog every week could be trauma. She must have arthritis.

But I blame genetics and environment most. Diet has made no difference for me but keeping weight off does help. So, low fat, low carb and try to avoid preservatives etc that we were not designed to eat.

And listen to music, dance, wiggle, hobble, laugh. It really helps.