If you'd like a clue as to the current state of your overall health, you usually don't need to look much deeper than your skin. Skin problems, such as eczema, infections and various other rashes, are typically a sign that there are one or more imbalances occurring somewhere beneath your surface. For example, when your body is having a hard time addressing the toxins it is exposed to, it will often use your skin as an additional route of elimination, and it is common for this process to create a rash.

While this does not seem logical, and it certainly is not accepted in conventional medical circles, it clearly happens. I have had a difficult time accepting this but last week I saw a patient who was nearly suicidal from a worsening of her skin reaction. It appears it was related to a homeopathic detoxification protocol she was on to remove mercury from her body. She also had issues with weakened adrenals and emotional stresses, which did not help, but it was quite clear that her skin reaction was related to the mercury detoxification process.

In light of these ideas, the results of this study come as no surprise. Skin rashes are a common side effect with numerous medications, as most of them are toxic to your body. When asked about such side effects, the typical doctor's response is that they are minor when compared to the benefits the patient is receiving from the medication.

In my opinion, this is taking the easy way out. If these doctors placed more importance on side effects and why they occur, more than a few lives would be saved in the process.

At the very least, they would realize that whatever drug they are using is not addressing the underlying cause of the problem, but instead is likely adding to it. This is particularly true in the case of anti-TNF drugs. It is bad enough that they have been linked to cancer and lymphoma, but it is likely the skin rashes represent a suppressive effect of the drugs on immune system function. Whenever a drug works by suppressing immune function, there are bound to be serious problems to come. Unfortunately, they're not always as obvious as a skin rash.

As you probably know, there are more effective ways to treat rheumatoid arthritis and they do not involve suppressive drugs, nor do they create further imbalances in the body. The treatment protocol I use for rheumatoid arthritis has helped thousands of patients with it go into remission. It involves the following:

• Dr. Brown's Antibiotic Protocol.

• Improving your diet using a combination of my nutritional guidelines and metabolic typing.

• Taking a high-quality fish or cod liver oil supplement.

• Having an effective method of addressing the nearly universal underlying emotional distresses that are present in nearly all autoimmune diseases like RA. Energy psychology tools seem to be the most effective and one of my favorites for doing this is the Emotional Freedom Technique. EFT is a form of psychological acupressure, based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over 5,000 years, but without the invasiveness of needles. Instead, simple tapping with the fingertips is used to input kinetic energy onto specific meridians on the head and chest while you think about your specific problem--whether it is a food craving, a traumatic event, a pain, etc.--and voice positive affirmations. You can view the free manual for more information.

• Incorporating regular exercise into your daily schedule.

• Getting your vitamin D levels checked and, if necessary, taking a supplement if you can't get daily sun exposure.

In addition, while this protocol is working to balance the underlying cause of your arthritis, you may also gain some short-term benefits by using more natural anti-inflammatory treatments until your symptoms are under control.

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