One of my mentors in the early part of my practice, Dr Marshall Mandell, wrote a book describing arthritis as an allergic reaction in many, if not most, or even, all cases. It's "Dr Mandell's Lifetime Relief System from Arthritis". It's a very interesting book, and since Dr Mandell was one of the foremost allergists, I read his book, and became a believer. He and I became friends, and he helped me learn quite a bit about allergy and sensitivity.

Of course, there are many types of arthritis, and there are different diagnosis made for some. One of the worst types is rheumatoid arthritis which can be crippling indeed. I know, as I got it when Sunny and I were sailing around the Caribbean some years ago. It was so bad that I couldn't haul sails up and down very well.

I had known that rheumatoid arthritis was caused by wheat in many cases, and I knew that I had a wheat problem with weight. So, I abstained from wheat for a month or so. I lost some weight, but the arthritis seemed to get worse.

Then, I remembered that I had tested positive on EPT (End-Point-Titration) for peanuts, but had not found any symptoms at that time. I'd been eating a lot of peanut butter and raisin sandwiches (a favorite) for some time. It's simple to fix on board. Also in checking, I found that the potato chips I was eating were done with peanut oil! I quit all forms of peanuts (reading labels carefully). Within a few weeks, the pain in my hands eased up, and in six months, I was free of this crippler. Since it's"sensitivity" and not a direct allergy, I can even eat a peanut butter sandwich as long as it's not more than once a week or less.

My case illustrates once again the fact that there are no "rules" to allergies or sensitivities. Indeed, "Anything Can Cause Anything" is virtually the only "rule".

While cruising, we met a lovely couple on Long Island in the Bahamas. John (Sunseeker) was a real gentleman who helps all cruisers in the Bahamas and we had become good friends. His wife was really crippled with arthritis that had started with a spider bite about 3 years previously. She could hardly walk at all, had trouble getting out of bed or a chair. I recommended that he go to Dr Von Hilsheimer in Orlando for EPT testing. They did, and the results were good. She had lots of food sensitivities, and was on a very restricted diet for many months, but she could walk and do things again.

There are a few books on wheat or gluten allergy causing rheumatoid arthritis on the market. This would seem to be a good initial "guideline" to anyone who suffers from this crippling disease to try first. Why take dangerous pain-killer type drugs if you can stop the source? That's the orthomolecular theory!

I would also recommend Dr Mandell's book on arthritis to anyone who suffers from this debilitating disease. I would also recommend trying the Caveman Diet and Pulse Test for finding allergens for anyone. It can be found (free) in the "Alternate-Health.com" website.

Next, let's talk about gout. Many MD's call it "gouty arthritis", and relate it to arthritis. Indeed, it also may be an undiagnosed allergy symptom, but I have seen no research on this.

Once again, I have a first person story to tell. I was diagnosed with high uric acid and gout in my 30's (over 40 years ago). I was put on medication, and told that it would be for a lifetime.

Being an egotist, I was determined that I wouldn't be on medication for a lifetime if I could possibly help it. So, I did a lot of reading on gout and gouty arthritis. Somewhere (lost in the mists of time and my memory), I found an "old wives tale" about eating cherries for preventing gouty attacks.

Sounded pretty far out, but I like cherries, so I started to eat a few daily. (The frozen black ones make great snacks.) A sandwich I like, but didn't often eat, is a combination of very sharp cheddar cheese and cherry jam, so I also started to eat those more often, and I started to use cherry jam instead of any other flavors.

It's funny, but when you don't have something wrong, you don't notice the loss as much as if you have it. This is often the case when people start taking the vitamin/mineral recommendations I have given to patients and students. Then, after a few weeks, they often begin to notice small things like acne clearing up, hair and fingernails growing better, etc. Since the gout attacks came and went, I didn't notice the loss of gout for some months, but then I realized that it hadn't come for some time. The old-wives remedy had worked!

We tend to forget that fortunes have been made in the drug industry by following up on some of these old-wife remedies, and isolating the ingredient that makes the drug effective. What it is in cherries, I don't know, but I do know that I have never had an attack of gout again, and when I have recommended it to others both in practice and friendship, it has worked for them as well. When my uric acid was tested recently, it was actually lower than average!

Uric acid comes from several sources, particularly undercooked meat, (beef, lamb and pork) as well as organ meats such as brains or sweetbreads, etc. I eat all of the red meats now (not the organ meats as much) with no restriction. It's been associated with "high" living and rich foods by many. Of course, rich people can afford more expensive meats, etc, so this correlation is found. (Something like the correlation between high cholesterol and rich people, as opposed to poor people with lower cholesterol.)

I hope this information is useful to you and yours in your search for better health.