Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation in your hands, feet, knees, and elbows and can eventually cause joint deformity. In autoimmune diseases, the immune system mistakenly attacks your own body. It can also affect your skin, eyes, lungs, and blood vessels.

As a Functional Medicine practitioner in Los Angeles, Dr. Lalezar believes autoimmune diseases originate in the gut. When the intestinal lining loses its integrity and becomes permeable, immune complexes composed of antibodies and antigens leak out of the gut and attack other systems in the body, including the joints, skin, thyroid, and many other organs.

A thorough workup includes a stool test (GI Effect or CDSA) to evaluate the good and the bad bacteria, digestion, absorption, and inflammation in the gut. A blood test is performed to evaluate intestinal permeability and to rule out leaky gut syndrome. Food sensitivity and allergy tests are also performed.

A liver cleanses and an allergy elimination diet is recommended to clear and enhance detoxification pathways in the liver. Gut-reviving supplements such as probiotics, glucogenic, and digestive enzymes are prescribed. MSM powder, Glucosamine Chondroitin, and Fish oil are also recommended to reduce inflammation in the joints.

IV chelation therapy is utilized to remove heavy metals that may cause the leaky gut syndrome.  Heavy metals can also trigger an immune response and trigger autoimmunity.  

At times Minocycline antibiotic use has been very effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis.