Modern medical science has come to regard conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis as originating in autoimmune disorders - disorders in which the body attacks its own tissues. The medical treatment of such conditions is at best challenging and their causes are still the subject of much research and debate.

With 90% of all such disorders involving postural distortion or imbalance, the prevalent assumption is that postural change is merely the consequence of the metabolic disorder found within the blood and tissues. Only amongst some chiropractors and other alternative and complementary therapists is there any widespread recognition that postural distortion itself may be implicated in causing the internal disorder - a viewpoint which, of course, suggests that treatment which does not address postural imbalance will only be of limited benefit.

It is widely accepted that physical and emotional effects, stress and improper diet may play a significant role in, for instance, rheumatoid arthritis. However, the likelihood that these very same factors might have their detrimental effects through their direct and individual impact on the overall postural lone of the body is largely overlooked. While it may be accepted that a lot can be gleaned about the individual from a study of their postural characteristics it is not so often understood that it is in the nature of the body to, in effect, record a person's traumas stresses and strains (both physical and emotional) within the biochemistry of its muscles, tendons and ligaments etc. Furthermore, these 'tissue memories', so to speak, will predispose each individual to specific internal disorders.

We know that glucose and glycogen are used by the body to produce energy. In this process acids such as pyruvic acid and lactic acid are deposited in muscle tissue. These substances are harmless in themselves when the body is allowed periods of rest between its active stress periods and, under normal circumstances, they are broken down to become carbon dioxide and water.

However, if this cycle is upset by insufficient relaxation or bad posture then these acids are liable to accumulate in the tissues. Excessive accumulation of this sort will cause the muscles to become dehydrated leaving a crystalline residue. Muscles can lose their elasticity and become firm masses of contracted tissue with the joints consequently becoming stiff, painful and misshapen. It is at this point that we start to see clear symptoms such as those of arthritis -symptoms which are. in effect, a reaction of the body to the acid fatigue poisons'. Whether the reaction is mild or severe will depend on the general vitality and resistance of the patient to infection and to the local condition of the joints themselves.

In addition, bad posture both changes the positioning of the internal organs and leads to disruption of their vital autonomic nerve supplies and consequent ill health. General immunity can be lowered by weak functioning of the organs of the thoracic and abdominal cavities.

While removal of the cause of infection may give temporary relief, no permanent recovery can be expected if joints continues to be habitually strained through postural misalignment.

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic constitutional condition involving atrophy of bone, muscle, skin, nails and most of the structural tissue of the body.

One of the first signs found by x-ray is bone atrophy - often even before the joints show any evidence of deterioration or symptoms of pain and swelling. Muscle wastage with weight loss and fatigue may also be early signs of rheumatoid arthritis. While young women are more prone to rheumatoid arthritis, the spinal form of atrophic arthritis - ankylosing spondylitis -is more common in young men. Both diseases tend to occur between the ages of 20 and 40. There are many other symptoms including cold hands and feet, secondary anemia, avitaminosis (A, B, C & D), muscular atrophy, decalcification of the bone with abnormal calcification of the cartilage and sometimes excessive fatigue, nervousness and soreness of the joints.

A case of rheumatoid arthritis

Jane had had problems with her health for 18 years. She repotted that she had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she had been working in a very stressful job. However, since her mother had suffered with arthritis for many years, she had presumed that her condition was hereditary.

When her mother died, Jane had suffered a lot from her loss. In addition, having been through a traumatic divorce, she was now in a new relationship that was not without its own problems. Her sleep was not good. She was waking, up frequently - often owing to the pain she was experiencing. Although the pain was widespread it was particularly bad in the joints. Her hands and wrists were especially painful. Her ankles were weak and hurl whenever she walked. She was taking four doses of paracetamol every day but she had given up the strong anti-inflammatory prescribed by her doctor because of its side-effects.

Jane initially came for homeopathic treatment and, based on her emotional and physical complaints, a constitutional homeopathic remedy was prescribed.

At the first follow-up consultation, Jane said that while she had felt much better in herself for a while after the remedy, the aches and pains were still bad. A further prescription again improved her emotional slate but only gave her a small amount of relief from the pain.

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