Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) affects millions of individuals worldwide. One of the greatest shortfalls in the treatment of this disease is the difficulty encountered by the physician in targeting the cause therefore treatment is mainly symptomatic.
For decades many patients with various forms of arthritis and other chronic diseases benefited from an antibiotic treatment pioneered by the late Dr. Thomas McPherson Brown, because older and more conventional methods had failed to bring them sustained relief. He believed that infectious agents played a significant role in causing rheumatic diseases. Presently, treatments like the antibiotic treatment are rapidly gaining momentum as the treatment method for improving the health and welfare of many arthritics.
Shortly before his death, Dr. Brown’s patients successfully lobbied Congress for the clinical trials with minocycline, the results of which provided support for the antibiotic treatment. However essential support services for the effective administration of this treatment by many physicians - e.g. identifying the infectious organisms, monitoring the effectiveness of the antibiotics against such organisms and monitoring patient treatment outcomes - are severely lacking. Among many health care personnel and physicians, there is a need to understand how and why the antibiotic treatment works.
To fill this void, in 1993, Dr Coker-Vann (the Research Director of Doctor Brown's organization at the time of his death) and Ethel Snooks started the Road Back Foundation with the help of Pat Ganger and some patients who had benefited from the treatment. The Arthritis Research Center was formed to provide the necessary information and services and to continue investigating the infectious causes of arthritis and other chronic rheumatic diseases. By actively increasing the physicians' and the public's awareness and knowledge of the antibiotic treatment, the patient population that can benefit from this type of treatment can be greatly expanded. Also, a better understanding of the underlying causes of these chronic diseases will greatly improve the treatment outcome.
The Arthritis Research Center continues to develop strategies for improving the health and welfare of arthritics.