Rheumatoid arthritis and the Chinese Thor

IN some respects, we may see this health battle like Thor (albeit a Chinese version) meeting the menacing Rheumatoid Arthritis, a great villain in the realm of ageing.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease. Its etiology (disease origin) still escapes the scientists, much like DC’s or Marvel’s origin movies (i.e. Batman or Wolverine, respectively). Autoimmune diseases result from the body’s immune system (e.g. white blood cells) attacking a specific body part (in this case, the bone joints). It indicates a human defense system that had gone chaotic and troubled. Thus, to venture a guess, it could be a nutritional intake (malnutrition) problem that had so worsened it deranged the person’s defense system.

Consequently, the elements of the person’s immune system cause progressive inflammation of different bone joints in the body. The disease is systemic and destructive to the joints, particularly the protective cartilages that cover all joints in the body. Anti-rheumatic drugs are often prescribed to interfere with the disease process. Sometimes targeted therapies, such as tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, are used, but often remain unpopular due to its general lack of efficacy and side effects (developing immunity of antibodies against it).

The Chinese Thor, Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, which is commonly called the “thunder god vine” (lei gong teng), had a reputation for efficacy against rheumatoid arthritis. Fourteen researchers (Ying-Yan Zhou and colleagues) from different medical institutions in Guangzhou, Jieyang, Dongguan and Shenzhen and two medical institutions from Stockholm, Sweden conducted reviews on large studies on it and published their findings in the April 2018 issue of the Frontiers of Pharmacology.

The researchers found improvement in the levels of C-reactive protein and the number of tender joints counted after the Chinese Thor intake. The vine’s extracts also demonstrated acceptable safety characteristics.

Perhaps, Thanos will have to watch out for it, perhaps, in a battle over the Philippine rice terraces.

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