RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Background
Although clinical trials have never been carried out specifically for RA patients, the enormous amount of patient feedback regarding the sudden disappearance of "aches and pains" affecting various parts of their body, begged the question, "why was this happening and how". Referencing the various clinical studies on file, gave us the answer. To understand the mechanism of action, one first needs to understand what is happening to an RA patient.What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is considered a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack the joints. It is a disabling and painful inflammatory condition, which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. RA is a systemic disease, often affecting extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and muscles. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses that occur when the body tissues are mistakenly attacked by its own immune system. The immune system is a complex organization of cells and antibodies designed normally to "seek and destroy" invaders of the body, particularly infections.The cause of RA is still unknown, but has long been suspected to be infectious. It could be due to food allergies or external organisms. As in other autoimmune diseases, the "mistaken identity" theory suggests that an offending organism causes an immune response that leaves behind antibodies that are specific to that organism. The antibodies are not specific enough, though. They begin an immune attack because some molecule "looks like" a molecule of the offending organism that created the initial immune reaction - Autoimmune diseases require that the affected individual has a defect in the ability to distinguish foreign molecules from the body's own.
Pharmaceutical drug protocol
The pharmaceutical approach is the long term management of the symptoms which quite simply means to switch off the pain receptors or to suppress the immune response. Long term use of these drugs is undesirable due to the multitude of side effects. They include the following: Painkillers, NSAID's, DMARD's, Steroids and Biologics.The Qina approach
When there is inflammation, the immune response is to immediately send Macrophages (one of the key cells of the immune system) to the infected site in order to seek and destroy the attacking pathogen. Among the mediators released from Macrophages, nitric oxide (NO) is well characterized as it is toxic to bacteria and other pathogens. However when NO is excessively produced it directly damages normal functional tissue. Moreover it can also react with superoxide anion radical to form the even stronger oxidant, peroxynitrite (ONOO-).Therefore by modulating the signals between the various immune components, results in an effective regulation of (NO) accumulation by inflammatory stimuli. By modulating the activated Macrophage, TNF (a cytokine involved in systemic inflammation) and interferon, induces a homeostatic (maintain balance or equilibrium) activity.
Conclusion:
Qina, through a cell mediating process is able to regulate the various components of the immune response that is responsible for the continuous inflammatory stimuli by regulating the excessive release of Nitric Oxide and Peroxynitrite both of which are capable of dismantling tissues to the point of inflicting serious injury, resulting in reduced pain and inflammation.