Case Study: Arthritis And Pre-Diabetes

Mark is a 61 year old man who is the husband of one of my long term patients. His wife had been encouraging him to have a consultation with me for several years, and I was very pleased when he finally arrived.

Mark experienced joint pain in his hips and right knee for several years, and it had recently become worse. He’d had a cortisone injection into his knee on three occasions, but wanted to see if there are natural alternatives. He wanted to avoid a knee replacement in the future if possible. His knee and hip were quite sore each morning and they improved as the day progressed. Mark enjoyed taking his dog for a walk each day, but he lives in a hilly area. Going downhill aggravates his knee and going uphill aggravates his hip.

A blood test five years ago showed that Mark’s blood sugar level was above normal but not high enough to be considered diabetic. His father and uncle both had type 2 diabetes. Mark hasn’t had a blood test since. He said he wants to work on improving his diet and losing some weight from his torso before having another test.

Mark had been slim for most of his life; it is only recently that he gained weight around his middle. With his family history of type 2 diabetes, I was fairly certain that Mark would have a fatty liver. He didn’t want to have an ultrasound at the moment though because he said he doesn’t like bad news.

Mark had too much visceral fat on his body. This is the type of fat that sits inside and around organs. It’s a dangerous type of fat that raises the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, dementia and cancer. Visceral fat and fat in the liver produces inflammatory chemicals and enzymes that can cause the degradation of collagen in the body. This means the visceral fat was worsening Mark’s knee and hip condition. Once he became aware of that, he was a lot more motivated to change his diet.

My recommendations for my patient:

• It was important to improve the health of Mark’s liver. I gave him my liver tonic Livatone Plus to help protect his liver cells and help damaged liver cells to regenerate. Liver inflammation typically produces fatigue, thus the liver tonic should lift his energy as well. People with a fatty liver do not burn fat efficiency and they are more likely to have elevated blood sugar.
• Elevated blood sugar is a significant health risk. Men in Mark’s age group are at high risk of heart attacks and strokes. High blood sugar promotes damage to artery walls and fosters the development of blood clots and atherosclerosis. I asked Mark to take 1 Berberine capsule with each meal. Berberine helps to reverse insulin resistance. It helps elevated blood sugar and cholesterol, and makes it easier to lose weight from the torso.
• Arthritis is an autoimmune disease. Certain foods can irritate the immune system of people with arthritis, leading to auto-antibody production. These include gluten, dairy products, legumes and nightshade vegetables. I asked Mark to follow the eating plan in my book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation. His diet was pretty good already, but he often didn’t eat enough for lunch, which caused cravings and hunger in the afternoon. On a good day he’d snack on walnuts, on a bad day he ate cookies and chocolate, plus ice cream after dinner.
•  Serrapeptase is a natural enzyme that fights inflammation in the body. It works like Pac Man, eating up swelling and debris in places it shouldn’t be. It is excellent at helping to relieve joint pain.

Mark’s wife has an appointment booked with me for 7 weeks time. She said she will bring Mark in for a follow up consultation then, to keep him accountable.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.