Arthritis is a severe disease that's uncomfortable at best and debilitating at worst. It is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Most people think that arthritis only happens to the elderly, but it can affect anyone. It is a disease that begins in your 20s or results from injuries sustained as a child. Unfortunately, most of what the general public is misinformed about arthritis: what it is, how it starts, and how to treat it!

In this episode, Dr Elizabeth Yurth addresses common misconceptions about arthritis. She defines the disease and offers realistic alternatives to established treatment options. If you want to learn more about longevity-based proactive measures to address arthritis, this episode is for you!

Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:

1. Recognise arthritis as an inflammatory process rather than a wear-and-tear disease.
2. Understand the importance of addressing arthritis early on — as early as your 20s!
3. Learn how longevity studies-based supplements and treatments improve the immune system and combat arthritis.

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Episode Highlights [03:30] Breaking the Misconceptions about Arthritis

• Arthritis is more than a wear-and-tear condition; it’s an inflammatory disease process. 
• It is not limited to the elderly. The disease process can begin with minor injuries, even those sustained as a child.
• Arthritis is a combination of genetics and environmental factors triggered by trauma. 

[08:25] Arthritis as an Inflammatory Disease Process  

• Arthritis is a disease process like neurodegenerative and cardiac illnesses. 
• Our bodies follow a balanced way to deal with injuries. It releases the level of cytokines that set off the body’s response to healing and recovery. Afterwards, cytokine levels fall, and anti-inflammatory proteins take over.
• The disease process begins during Imbalance in any part of the process. It can be started as too many cytokines lead to zombie cells and lack of autophagy.

[12:20] General Approaches to Addressing Arthritis 

• Turn off inflammatory cytokines through simple supplements like curcumin or epigallocatechin. 
• Turning down the inflammatory response allows the injury to heal better. 
• Inducing autophagy or knocking off the bad cells helps reduce injury as well. 

[13:36]  Arthritis is a Preventable Disease 

• Arthritis is a disease that should be given more attention, as it has a significant impact on people’s quality of life.
• It is the primary cause of disability among people of working age. 
• Arthritis is preventable to a large degree, despite genetics and other factors. 

[18:32] Current Orthopedic Treatments for Arthritis 

• The focus in addressing arthritis is to treat the disease process.
• Steroid injections temporarily reduce inflammatory cytokines, but they also inhibit those that aid in healing.
• Arthroscopic surgery can provide immediate comfort. However, it can also inflict tears that can cause the rapid progression of arthritis.
• Back fusion can help cases of spinal instability. However, for degenerative discs, the long-term success rate of surgery is around 10% of those who undergo it.

[24:09]  Degenerative Disc Disease as an Inflammatory Disease 

• Degenerative disc disease is an inflammatory disease caused by high levels of cytokines. This includes the nuclear factor kappa beta.
• The goal is to focus on the issues that cause disc destruction, such as elevated cytokine levels, rather than the disc itself.
• Ageing processes, like degeneration, should serve as a wake-up call to reconsider one's diet. This also includes reconsidering supplements, and exercise, as well as one's cardiovascular health.

[27:18]  Changing the Perspective about Arthritis

• People should be aware that arthritis begins in their 20s, similar to brain disorders, heart ailments, and cancers.   
• All these immune and inflammatory diseases come down to curing ageing. 
• We need to take proactive steps and opt for longevity instead of a mechanical standard of care. 
• Opting for the ‘expensive’ care earlier will save you time, stress, and money. People often exhaust traditional options first before pursuing longevity treatments. 

[38:49] Pentosan Polysulfate: ‘A Cure for Arthritis’

• Pentosan polysulfate is a repurposed drug that reduces cytokines causing degenerative disc pain. 
• According to studies, even after just six weeks of using Pentosan Polysulfate, you can continue to reap the advantages for up to a year.

[45:07] Vitamins and Supplements to Combat Arthritis 

• Another strategy to fight arthritis is to make sure your nutrients are optimised.
• Vitamins D and C, and zinc are critical but straightforward micronutrients.
• Epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, has many benefits that aid in addressing arthritis. Its benefits include muscle-building, fat loss, and myostatin blocking.

[47:07] Benefits of Gaining Muscle

• Muscle, as an organ, produces endocrine glands, and myokines have very beneficial effects on joints.  
• Those with sarcopenia or muscle loss are more likely to develop joint arthritis.
• Electrical stimulation of muscles can be done for individuals who are further along in a disease process.
• Static contraction or contracting the muscles for three seconds every hour also helps muscle-building. 

[51:03]  Inducing Autophagy Process Using Spermidine 

• Spermidine is a polyamine compound that comes from bacteria in certain foods. 
• Polyamine is produced by the human body as well. However, as we become older, we make less of it.
• It is an autophagy-Inducing agent that aids in getting rid of damaged cells. 
• Spermidine works better than steroids at reducing inflammation. It preserves the joints without making them worse.

[54:06] Trehalose: The ‘Sugar Substitute’

• Trehalose is glucose that impacts oxidative stress and helps clean up the cells. 
• It has zero glycemic impact, which helps blood glucose under control. 
• Trehalose is looked at for neurodegenerative diseases but can benefit joint pain. 

[56:57] Peptide Therapies as Simple, Inexpensive Aid 

• If you are looking for simple, inexpensive aid, collagen peptides can also be beneficial. 
• They typically are part of a mixture including Vitamin C, which helps cartilage cells. 
• A more expensive option is aggressive peptides, like BPC 157 or Body Protection Compound 157. These peptides can aid joint regeneration.
• It’s vital to understand the role of inflammation in arthritis rather than jumping at treatments, like stem cell therapy.

[59:54] The Role of Stressed Immune System 

• Almost every disease is related to over-aggressive, pro-inflammatory cytokines, disruption in mitochondrial function, and autophagy. 
• Ageing causes a significant number of diseases. 
• The immune system goes awry for many reasons, including viral exposures.

[59:54] Antiviral Drugs, Hormones, and Fasting

• Antiviral drugs, hormones, and fasting can help the immune system fight diseases as healthy as possible. 
• EGCG and curcumin are natural compounds that have some antiviral properties. Acyclovir is also a safe choice for combatting the herpes virus and Epstein-Barr, among others.  

• Our immune system produces fewer hormones as we become older. Our bodies need hormones to function, so we need to replace them somehow.
• Hormones have huge immune-modulating properties that help stop oxidative stress. 
• The immune system benefits from the recovery period following a fast. It can be very beneficial to clear out dead cells.

[1:08:55] Rapamycin and Metformin: The ‘Future’ of Arthritis

• Rapamycin is a chemotherapeutic medication with a solid immune-modulating effect. 
• It is well-known for activating autophagy, which can lengthen lifespan in all mammalian species scientists have studied.
• Metformin is an inexpensive medication that keeps glucose control. 
• It has some interesting studies on arthritis. One study shows the overlapping benefits in cardiovascular, renal, cancer, and obesity protection. 

7 Powerful Quotes

“[Arthritis as an inflammatory disease process] is the same thing that goes on with COVID. Right? Yes. Why do some people die of COVID? [It's] usually not the virus itself -- it's the immune reaction to the virus.”

 

“So we know we have to treat [cytokines] and not the disc itself. That's the end game. Treat the problem that's causing the disc damage.”

 

“...[W]e're really trying to get into the heads of these [20-year-olds] and say, the [disease process starts when you’re] 20. Yeah, like your brain diseases, your heart diseases, and your cancers are all those processes are starting in our 20s.”

 

“The plastic surgeons are doing fine. [P]eople are more than willing to spend that money on their facelifts and things like that [than] internally to feel better.”

 

“You can have no cartilage and no pain or no discs, and no gain. The pain is an inflammatory sign.”

“Go back, go back up the tree. And then you had all of the diseases in mitochondria and information.”

"Be it cancer, metabolic disease, cardiovascular disease, or neurologic arthritis, they're all the same disease. You've got to get the immune system as healthy as possible. You have to stop oxidative stress."

Resources

• Gain exclusive access and bonuses to Pushing the Limits Podcast by becoming a patron! 
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• Track your blood glucose in real-time with Levels Health. 
• Tripping Over the Truth: How the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Is Overturning One of Medicine's Most Entrenched Paradigms by Travis Christofferson 
• Curable: How an Unlikely Group of Radical Innovators is Trying to Transform our Health Care System by Travis Christofferson 
• How to Starve Cancer by Jane McLelland
• Want to learn more from Dr Dom? Check out Peter Attia’s podcast episodes with him: 
• • Episode 116 - AMA with Dom D’Agostino, PhD, Part I of II: Ketogenic diet, exogenous ketones, and exercise
  • Episode 120 – AMA with Dom D’Agostino, PhD, Part II of II: Ketosis for cancer and chronic disease, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and the effect of ketosis on female health 
  • Episode 5 - Dom D'Agostino, PhD: ketosis, n=1, exogenous ketones, HBOT, seizures, and cancer      
• You can also check out other podcasts where Dr Dom was a guest here. 
• The 1-Week and 8-Month Effects of a Ketogenic Diet or Ketone Salt Supplementation on Multi-Organ Markers of Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Function in Rats 
• Press-pulse: a novel therapeutic strategy for the metabolic management of cancer 
• Ketone supplementation decreases tumour cell viability and prolongs the survival of mice with metastatic cancer 
• Moffitt Cancer Center 
• Get your exogenous ketones from Audacious Nutrition 
• Keto Nutrition: Website | Youtube | Instagram | Facebook
• Connect with Dr Dom: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram

About Dr Elizabeth

Dr Elizabeth Yurth, MD, FAARFM, ABAARM is a practising orthopedic. She specialises in sports, spine, and regenerative medicine and has over 25 years of professional experience as a practising orthopaedic physician. She is a double-Board Certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Anti-Aging/Regenerative Medicine. 

Dr Yurth has dedicated her life to longevity. In 2006, she founded the Boulder Longevity Institute, where she serves as the Medical Director. She has worked as the team physician for Stanford and Santa Clara Universities and consulted for the San Francisco 49ers and the San Jose Ballet.

Dr Yurth has a dual-Fellowship in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine (FAARM), and Anti-Aging, Regenerative and Functional Medicine (FAARFM) through the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M). She recently completed a Fellowship in Human Potential and Epigenetic Medicine. 

You can learn more and connect with Dr Elizabeth on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

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Lisa