Tertiary Stage of RA continued:
Though medical science has no explanation for the cause of the increased susceptibility to infection in RA, we know it to be one aspect of deep miasmatic infection, in this case predominantly the sycotic miasm and the immunosuppression that results in the later stages when the organism has succumbed to its malevolent forces.
The other manifestations of the tertiary stage of RA are similarly a result of the same mechanism of immunosuppression. Different constitutions will manifest different signs and symptoms in different sites, but they all are the many facets of one morbific process.
Mixed Miasms:
When all three miasms are intricately interwoven in the subtle network of the organism, complications that may be concomitants of rheumatic joint symptoms represent the action of those combined miasmatic patterns. Some of the gravest chronic diseases make up the repertoire of such action, such as amyloidosis and Sjogren’s syndrome. Severe systemic disturbances and febrile states are often present along with multiple extra articular manifestations of rheumatic disease, such as anemia, scleritis and pleurisy.
Rheumatoid factor:
Modern research has focused a lot of attention on the presence of autoantibodies in patients with certain types of rheumatic diseases. Autoantibodies are circulating antibodies that possess specificity for certain antigens within the host’s own body. One of the most significant of these autoantibodies in RA is rheumatoid factor (RF). The mechanism by which RF is produced and maintained is not known, nor is its role in the pathogenesis and perpetration of RA understood. It is thought it may play a role in the production of immune complexes.
We can postulate that these autoantibodies, which are detected in several chronic diseases, are produced in response to the chronic antigenic challenge of latent miasms or latent retroviral agents. In this sense, RF may not actually be directed against the host, but may be one of the ways in which the organism’s vital force is trying to eliminate the silent invaders.
From the perspective of autoimmunity, if RF is directed against the host, then it may represent the point at which the organism has finally succumbed to the malevolent influence of the miasm(s). Whereas the initial response to miasmatic infection is a strong immune response with inflammatory processes, the presence of the miasm may weaken this defence mechanism to such a degree that not only is the miasm able to perform its perverted work without any interference from the immune system (in immunosuppression), but this morbific field may transform the protective mechanism into an instrument of destruction, clinically expressed by the autoimmune diseases.
The chronic diseases that are associated with high titers of RF appear to have a common miasmatic origin. If we keep this in mind, then the focus of treatment for these chronic diseases will have to shift from specific therapy for specific organs and systems to treatment for the whole organism.
. . . to be continued
Dr. Barbara Bova, HOD, Dept of Homeopathy