Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis, and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), involve destruction of healthy cells by the body's own defensive mechanism. If the immune system's faux pas is not corrected, the attack can progress to the heart, lungs, and other vital organs. The mechanisms that cause the deregulation of the immune response are not entirely understood. It can be assumed that heavy metal toxicity, leaky gut syndrome, infectious bacteria and parasites, and nutritional imbalances can overburden the body's immune system, thus deregulating immune signals and responses. Ongoing research investigates the mechanism by which these factors cause the immune system to attack the body's own tissues. In this paper, we discuss natural therapies that can help regulate the immune system's aggressive behavior without suppressing or altering its necessary defenses.

trauma and "wear and tear." However, the 'wear and tear' theory is probably an oversimplification, because many elderly people never develop arthritis, after years of wear and tear. 1 The degeneration of joints in all types of arthritis involves ongoing biochemical processes that negatively alter metabolism essential to maintaining healthy joints. Although conventional medical diagnostics attempt to assign patients a differential diagnosis of one specific kind of arthritis, in reality, many patients exhibit a continuum of symptoms. For example, even in those individuals who are officially diagnosed with osteoarthritis, many pro-inflammatory cytokines are released. This may not be due to the immune dis-regulation associated with rheumatoid arthritis, but instead can be caused by a myriad of other factors, such as toxicity and high levels of oxidative stress, which lead to accelerated tissue destruction. 2 Pain managementIn natural medicine, the goal is to address the causative factors of illness through an examination of diet, lifestyle, allergies, toxic load, gut integrity, presence of microorganisms and psychological factors. Uncovering these factors, and making the behavioral changes that will positively affect the disease process, ultimately will lead to increased wellness. However, these steps take time, and the issue of pain management needs to be addressed immediately, while the body readjusts to a less inflammatory state. While pharmaceutical drugs offer effective pain relief, their use long term is not desirable due a large number adverse secondary effects. NSAIDs, in particular, actually make the overall disease process of arthritis worse, by increasing the destruction of the tight junctures in the gastrointestinal mucosa, commonly known as 'leaky gut' and by depleting the very nutrients necessary for joint repair, including iron, 3 folic acid 4 and zinc. 5 COX 2 inhibitors, introduced with a media blitz touting them as a much safer drug therapy, are now known to also have serious side effects. 6 In this article, we will review several oral and topical botanical approaches to the pain and inflammation associated with arthritis, and other inflammatory conditions.