Question
I have a 27-year-old son who was stricken with reactive arthritis three years ago while serving in the U.S. Air Force in Oman. He received a medical discharge after three years of service before his "undetected" condition was detected. His condition regressed so quickly that he was flown to a hospital in Germany where he was diagnosed as having lost most all of his cartilage in both hips. Today, he uses a cane (sometimes crutches) to get around.
He is too young for such an invasive procedure as double hip replacement. What I want to know, is there an injection of chicken cartilage for the hip joints that could benefit him?
If not, is there any other procedure that you can recommend that can postpone his hip surgeries?
Waiting on your expert advice,
Linda Carmicle  

Answer
Linda:

Thanks for writing!

It is unfortunate that your son is in this condition. A good number of cases such as this are caused by the refined foods present in the American diet and I assume the Air Force does not serve any food that is any more nutritious.

Your son can be helped without the surgery. And the chicken cartilage injections is an excellent way to get things started. But that is short term. He will also need to take the correct vitamin and mineral supplements and completely change his diet.

Water intake is also very important. Get the water uptake up there. He must drink 1 ounce of water for each two pounds of body weight each and every day and night. Filtered or spring water, not tap water.

He would benefit greatly by getting some free range chickens , cooking them and chewing the ends off of the bones, but that is a bit chewy! The same substance is avialable in tablet form. Knox Gelatin without any sugar is one source.

Off course, the cartilage cannot rebuild without trace minerals. And the Great American Diet is completly devoid of trace minerals.

There are many sources of trace minerals on the market. Kelp is one, but the compunded formulas work better. He would need to take about 6 times the recomended dosage to get enough to do any good.

Go to www.icak.com and call a chiropractor listed there. Find one who does nutritional Counseling. They can give your son specific advise on what to take and what not to take.

In general, stay with the FOOD FORM vitamins and minerals. Insist on them, do not accept substitutes. They are much easier for the body to assimilate.

Does this answer your question?

Dr Rozeboom