BHA and BHT | Arthritis Information

Perhaps I think tooooooooooo much but this is a thought which keeps coming back. The preservatives, BHA and BHT, are recognized as carcinogens and are found in nearly all foods we consume - that is they cause cancer. The many drugs used in the treatment of RA are drugs used in the treatment of cancer - that is they've been borrowed. According to medical authorities these drugs have a great degree of success in the treatment of RA. This causes me to question why there hasn't been any research as to why these drugs are effective for those dxd with RA. Just thinking. Take Care

watchingwolf39156.5577199074There has been a great deal of study especially on methotrexate and no real conclusions as to the "why" it works. By its original design it is supposed to kill the rapidly replicating cells of certain cancers. The supposition is that does the same thing to the rapidly replicating cells causing the inflammtion in the synovial lining. Rituxan does the same thing for RA as it does for lymphoma that is kill off the "B" cells. Cancer meds and RA drugs are both designed to kill off malfunctioning cells. However, most of our drugs come from the pure immunosuppressor class of drugs. The earlier meds, such as cyclosporine, targeted the entire immune system, the biologics have narrower targets.

Buckeye, I know I didn't ask the question, but I want to thank you for your answer, anyway.

That was an excellent explanation of how things are believed to work. Thanks for the info.

Nini

thank you
It's a given that antibiotics don't treat viruses but the "tetracycline class of drugs"
have an antiinflammatory and immunosuppresive role. Double-blind tests performed by the NIH and the NIAMS both have proven that antibiotic treatment is an effective treatment for RA and other rheumatic diseases. Both have published these findings in medical journals. When I became aware of this I asked myself: "could this be because RA is the result of bacterial infections versus viral infections?"

The cost of treating RA with minocin/minocycline is approximately 0 per month compared to the astronomical costs for generally prescribed therapies. Not included are the complications caused by these therapies and resulting costs for treatment.

It's when I became aware of the fact that BHA and BHT are carcinogens and thus immunosuppresive therapy is used in treating the resulting cancers and the fact these same drugs were borrowed for the treatment of RA that I began to question why the emphasis of treating RA was focused on these drugs. Especially, when the tetracyclines were used very effectively in the treatment of rheumatic diseases before these therapies were introduced.

Am still skeptical of the drug companies motives because their emphasis is on drugs to treat the symptoms as opposed to finding the causes of the different rheumatic diseases . why are some people afflicted and others aren't. Like I say treatments for RA treat the symptoms not the disease.

Example: Diabetes - they know it's cause even if they haven't figured out why. Thus, the insulin treats the why and except in the most extreme cases keeps it under control.

watchingwolf39157.4134837963

Personally I think there are multiple causes or triggers of RA. That is why some people respond to treatments such as AP and some don't. Its why some people do well on the anti-tnf's and some don't. Its why some people have multiple organ involvement and some don't. I think when all is said in done we may be actually dealing with several different types of diseases all with very similar symptoms.

We know so much but the reality is that knowledge is only a drop in the bucket of what we need to know. Cause isn't going to be found in the pharma labs it will be found in the academic labs..and there are people working on it