Hi, Sue:
One of the reasons I am so adamant about Kp, aside from doing a 'single-blind' test on my own (by accident) as well as many other confirmations ("
anecdotal" to some with just enough knowledge to be dangerous)...is that with such proof could come some potentially more effective treatments--like macrophage cocktails, or re-implant of Kp with an altered sequence (gene therapy applied to the parasite instead of the host).
I do use antibiotics, and believe that the reason I require them is extreme damage due to NSAID usage. Others have used antibiotics without particular attention to starches: Cipro is very effective against Kp--at first; in the presence of starches, resistive strains select out quickly to replenish colonies, and AS returns too soon (<1 year).
Maybe I keep the little beggars guessing, since I switch antibiotics often, but after four years Cipro is still effective for me, to some extent. I like cephalexin, tetracycline, and the occasional Flagyl to keep the
C. dificile down: Antibiotics have their own set of problems, and they can also compromise the mucosa and create a
C. albicans overgrowth that, by itself, can initiate AS (and polyarthritis) due to intestinal damage. I do the occasional caprylic acid, garlic, colloidal silver, as well as fasting and apple diets to keep any hint of candidiasis away (hope it's working
). I'm even experimenting with rf therapies and radioactivity, but no joy yet... I am not the best test subject, since my diet is so strict and I do everything I can to avoid a flare.
Well, I suppose that the best answers to your question are not very satisfying:
a) Depends upon who you are--the intestinal history (NSAID usage especially), and where the lesions remain and how well they are allowed to heal. 'Balanced' starches, to me, indicates unrefined (with germ), unmilled, and unbleached in some small quantities, but potatoes are the exception because of the solubility of this type of starch.
b) I used to think that reaction to starches was non-linear relationship; it sure seems like it when a flare is produced. However, there are many factors involved in the initiation of a flare: Food combinations (determines
transit time of bolus and chyme), character of starches (finely divided, like flour, is terrible; big and few chunks, like rice, may be tolerable), lesions, etc. Now, I am convinced that when AS is already active, the amount of starch is proportional to the disease activity, but there is a
threshold that, remaining below, we enjoy freedom from new symptoms and have to work on remnants from past episodes.
It is certainly in our interest to steer research policy in the direction of attacking the source of the problem, instead of putting a bandaid over symptoms. And, we need to make others more
starch-aware, so that our foods are not indiscriminately adulterated with starches, and more options are available to us--the Atkins people have really helped in this regard.
Will be a sad blow to our detractors when their doctors hand them a prescription to follow Atkins!
Best to You,
John
