Autoimmunity and Inflammation | Clint Paddison

Autoimmune Mechanisms

Autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, involve the body mistakenly attacking its own tissues, leading to inflammation and joint damage. Clint Paddison explains that these conditions are on the rise globally and are particularly debilitating, with rheumatoid arthritis causing the body to attack synovial tissue and cartilage, potentially leading to severe joint damage 1. He notes that the body confuses certain proteins as threats, leading to widespread inflammation in various joints.

My diagnosis was rheumatoid arthritis, but they have close brothers and sisters in psouretic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and fibromyalgia and things like this where the body's attacking itself.

--- Clint Paddison

Clint also highlights that autoimmune diseases disproportionately affect women, with potential links to childbirth and urinary tract infections 1.

   

Treatment Approaches

The standard medical approach to treating autoimmune diseases involves a hierarchy of medications, adjusted based on the patient's symptoms and blood markers. Clint Paddison describes how doctors typically increase medication if inflammation markers are high, but rarely discuss reducing or stopping medication 2. He shares his personal journey of gradually reducing his methotrexate dosage by maintaining normal inflammation levels, eventually discovering dietary changes that improved his condition.

Let's get off the drug. But I wanted to get off that methotrexate. And I said, look, if we can get a couple of months in a row of normal inflammation levels and normal blood, we start to get off the medication.

--- Clint Paddison

Clint's experience in Hawaii, where he incorporated papaya into his diet, led to significant improvements, allowing him to enjoy foods he hadn't been able to eat for years 2.