Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Infection Connection: Targeting and Treating the Cause of Chronic Illness

by Katherine M. Poehlmann, Dr Joseph Mercola DO, Dr Katherine M Poehlmann PhD

Book Overview

Foreword by Dr. Harold Clark, author of "Why Arthritis?" and lab manager for Dr. Thomas McPherson Brown, author of "The Road Back." Appendices by Dr. Joseph Mercola, D.O. (www.mercola.com) and Dr.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0961726865
• ISBN13: 9780961726867
• Release Date: April 2012
• Publisher: Satori Press
• Length: 396 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

LIFESAVER BOOK OF HOPE AND UNDERSTANDING

SOME BOOKS CHANGE LIVES. THIS IS ONE OF THEM! SOME BOOKS SAVE LIVES. THIS IS ONE OF THEM! DR. POEHLMANN'S BOOK IS LIKE A LIFE JACKET OFFERED TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US, THE MILLIONS WHO FEEL LIKE WE ARE DROWNING IN A SEA OF SICKNESS, MISUNDERSTANDING, MISDIAGNOSIS, INEFFECTIVE TREATMENT AND UNNECESSARY PROGRESSION TOWARD DISABILITY. RA-THE INFECTION CONNECTION IS A PROFOUND, TIMELY BOOK OF HOPE AND UNDERSTANDING, A PRACTICAL AND PROMISING HEALTHY GUIDE FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND OTHER AFFLICTIONS WHICH DISABLE AND CAN KILL. THE TITLE SAYS IT ALL, EXPLAINS IT ALL. NOW, IT IS A MATTER OF LISTENING, OF CARRYING THROUGH WITH THE HEALING PLAN OF ACTION. IT'S TOUGH TO TACKLE AND PROMOTE A CONTROVERSIAL HEALTHCARE PLAN, YET DR. POEHLMANN TOOK THE RISK. CHANGING TIMES, CHANGING ATTITUDES, ADVOCATION FOR TREATING THE CAUSE OF RA, NOT MERELY THE SYMPTOMS-INDEED, THIS IS THE BOOK TO GET THE JOB DONE, TO HELP RHEUMATOID SUFFERERS FIGHT THEIR HORRENDOUS BATTLES, TO WIN THEIR WAR AGAINST DISEASE. DR. POEHLMANN IS A TRUE WARRIOR FOR WELLNESS. THANK GOD FOR BRAVE SOLDIERS WHO NEVER SURRENDER! ETERNAL THANKS DOC, GG, AN RA SURVIVOR

This book got my health back on track!

I thought I was doomed to a life of pain and disability. The information in this book was a real eye-opener! I was not aware that serious scientific research had been done in the 1940s that would lead to a cure for my RA. I have bought several copies for friends with Fibromyalgia and Lupus, giving them the gift of health. As Dr. Mercola says, "This therapy works!" I'm living proof of that. Thank you, Dr. Poehlmann, for writing this wonderful book.

A great book, chock full of information and hope

For anyone who is going through RA, this book is something to treasure. When this surprising and debilitating disease started dragging me down, I became overwhelmed by the power of it to change my life and that of my family. I made a choice early on that I did not want to take the litany of drugs that was prescribed to me by the Rheumatoid Arthritis specialist. I read many books on the subject, but none of them were as comprehensive or full of eye-opening facts as this one. I was already on a tetracycline regimen by the time I read this book but it confirmed much of what I was already doing and clearly explained why I was making progress. With much effort including dietary changes, antibiotics, exercises and a few other therapies I have made it back from nearly wheel-chair bound to almost symptom free. The information that Dr. Poehlmann has given us in the book is important and can give anyone who suffers from RA hope that it can be overcome. I wish that everyone that has this disease would read it. I wish also that the medical establishment would read this book with an open mind and start to offer their patients something other than the toxic drugs that they are now prescribing.

A clarion call to the medical establishment

This is a book written in a fever with the enthusiasm of a born-again true believer so that the mass of information and associations come streaming out like water from a fire hose. The effect on the reader is somewhat marvelous since it is obvious that Dr. Poehlmann, a systems engineer who has a PhD in Health Science, is onto something important.The key idea in this enormously detailed and intensely researched volume, updated and revised from her doctoral dissertation, is that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other chronic diseases of unclear etiology are actually caused by microorganisms. In particular mycoplasmas and/or L-shaped bacteria, stealthy pathogens only a little larger than viruses, are to blame.This is a revolution in medical thought. RA, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, Gulf War Illness, etc., have long been thought to be autoimmune diseases, that is, diseases caused by the body's immune system attacking the body itself. What Poehlmann is saying is that mycoplasmas cause these diseases and make them chronic because these minute pathogens are able to hide from the immune system within the body's tissues. They are able to strategically slow down their growth and to lie dormant for months or even years only to erupt when conditions suit them, typically when the body is weakened by fatigue, stress or another illness. By stopping their growth temporary the pathogens are able to dodge antibiotics. By changing their shapes, especially by going without an outer cell wall (the immune system identifies pathogens by their surfaces), they are able to fool the immune system. Consequently they are extraordinarily difficult to pin down, or to even identify, and of course even more difficult to get rid of. Incidentally, routine blood tests apparently do NOT test for mycoplasmas. (p. 171)The medical establishment, as Poehlmann points out, has been slow to embrace this theory for a number of reasons, not the least of which is simply an inability to accept new ideas that go against the conventional wisdom. The germ theory of disease was thought some decades ago to have nearly exhausted its potential as medical theorists looked to the environment and a malfunctioning immune system as causing chronic illnesses. But the germ theory of disease is back stronger than ever, and a revolution in the way we think about chronic disease is taking hold.It was in an article in the February, 1999 edition of The Atlantic Monthly, written by Judith Hooper, that I first heard about the possibility that chronic diseases were caused by pathogens and not by genetic defects or environmental stresses. Not only heartburn--known to have been caused by bacteria since the forties (but, amazingly enough, forgotten for decades by the medical establishment!)--but also heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's and even schizophrenia, are now thought to be caused or triggered by pathogens. Poehlmann credits Dr. Thomas McPherson Brown as first proposi

The Infection Connection

I'm not used to reading highly technical books, but Dr. Poehlmann has provided a list of definitions that help me understand the unfamiliar scientific terms. Dr. Mercola's suggested Eating Program in Appendix 5 is difficult to follow, but it makes sense and I'm trying it as far as I am able. The book covers a lot more than Rheumatoid Arthritis. I learned a lot about allergies and keeping cartilage and bones healthy. I found surprising facts (all well documented), for example, that people can have both RA and Osteoarthritis, or why milk is not good for you, or what is the real cause of ulcers (and what to do about it). Mold and mildew are in the headlines right now, and this topic is covered in the book, so I know the text contains the latest research. So much information for such a small price!