<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Hello all,

DISCLAIMER:  I am a 4th year chiropractic intern and only am posting this for
informational purposes.  I am not yet licensed to practice chiropractic and
do not intend to offer advice to anyone on his/her individual situation.
Please consult your chiropractor or MD for health advice.  Feel free to have
any doctor contact me for further info on this.

this is my first posting to this list.  I'm a chiropractor (in my year of
interning) and I recently figured out that my husband (newly weds, we are)
has all the signs and symptoms of celiac disease.

For joint and tendon inflammation, I can recommend
glycosaminoglycans/chondroitin sulfate.  It is available in most healthfood
stores.  There is a popular book out right now titled "the Arthritis Cure" by
an MD that has quite a bit of good info in it.  (Although I have a different
opinion on which dosages and whether pharmaceutical sources or natural
sources are better)

These two complex chemicals are found naturally in cartilage and spinal
disks.  When people take them orally, they reduce joint inflammation  and
prevent cartilage degeneration.  We don't yet know exactly how they promote
the healing, but there are numerlous clinical trials in Europe (where is is a
commonly prescribed therapy) to show that it is effective.  They have been
proven to be very effective in reducing joint inflammation without causing
any side effects, such as GI irritation (which increases leaky gut and the
resultant allergic reaction, mineral malabsorbtion--> deficiency,etc)

Some doctors recommend using chemically purified versions of these two
compounds, while others recommend natural sources.  I have been recommending
natural sources to my patients since 1994.  I prefer natural "whole" souces,
along with a bioavailable souce of calcium (such as microcrystaline
hydroxyapatite);B6; organic magnesium, manganese, and zinc;Vitamin D; vitamin
C complex (not just ascorbic acid!) and potassium.

A technical note:  By the way, aside from the gastric side effects of NSAIDS
such as ibupropin, aspirin  and motrin (ie leaky gut and hyperallergic
reaction and malabsorbtion of minerals), they also have been shown to
actually diminsh the quality of healing of collagen, the main "connective"
component in tendons, cartilage and bone.  Without going into detail, the
liver requires sulfur to clear out the aspirin or motrin from the system, and
that doesn't leave enough for glycosamineaminoglycan formation (chondoitin
sulfate is a major component.)  Furthermore, for a celiac patient, the liver
is already overburdened processing all the extra antibodies, and doesn't need
to be stressed more by having to sulfate the NSAIDS.in order to get them out
of the body.

Anyway, this was a rather long post... hope it helps someone out there.

Judith Blumhorst
Chiropractic Intern
Palmer College of Chiropractic West
San Jose, CA