Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is commonly known as lupus. This devastating form of arthritis is autoimmune in nature, whereby the immune system's antibodies mistakenly identify the body's tissue as foreign substances and thereby attacks the connective tissue, causing inflammation and pain. This autoimmune process can affect mostly the skin, joints, blood and kidneys. It may appear suddenly or develop over a number of years and most often strikes children and women under the age of 40. In fact, women are afflicted 10-15 times more often than men.

There are three types of lupus. Discoid lupus affects the skin only. Ten percent of those with discoid will develop systemic lupus, although it is believed that those people probably had systemic lupus with discoid lupus as an initial symptom. Systemic lupus involves the skin, joints, and organs, and is the type of lupus that is usually referred to when discussing lupus. The third type is drug-induced lupus.

Lupus is often a chronic lifelong condition with flare-ups and remission. For others, lupus is life threatening when the lungs, kidneys or heart are attacked by auto-antibodies.

Lupus can be mild or it can be extremely serious, depending on which organs it affects. Earlier this century, lupus was fatal within a few years of onset. Today almost all lupus patients live out their normal lifespan, provided they and their doctors carefully manage their symptoms.

Presently, quality of life is the most important issue for lupus patients. Orthodox medicine has not been terribly successful in offering lupus sufferers relief from painful flare-ups - powerful drugs for pain and for antibody suppression are their best treatments.

If at all possible, it is best to minimize the need for these aggressive measures or to use them in conjunction with specific natural methods. According to Dr. Linda Page, PhD., natural therapies help rebuild a stable immune system, but require many months. In her experience, you may typically feel worse for 1 to 2 months, and then suddenly, as a rule, you feel much better.

Lupus is one of six autoimmune disorders where mercury and other toxic metals are strongly implicated (the others are Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Graves’ disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia). Scientists have exposed rats to mercury, and watched them develop autoimmune diseases like MS and lupus.

Other scientists have found a connection between having higher levels of mercury in your body with a positive Anti-Nuclear Antibodies test (ANA), which is the first sign of an autoimmune process going on in your body that can lead to lupus. Bottom line? An association has been found between mercury and autoimmune antibodies, which could indicate a broader relationship between toxic metals, especially mercury, and other autoimmune disorders.

A hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) is a simple, non-invasive screening test that can be used to find out if you have a heavy metal problem. This is especially useful if your program of supplements and lifestyle changes is not showing consistent positive results or is working a little more slowly than you would like. An HTMA test will help you find hidden toxicities, help you identify the source of exposure to heavy metals, and will suggest ways to balance the essential minerals and eliminate the toxic metals.

It is important to note that may people get better through detoxification, even when diagnosed with a serious illness such as an autoimmune disease. Removing toxic metals can relieve some of the symptoms of the disease, and sometimes even slow down the progression of the disease entirely.

An HTMA can give you the extra information needed to take additional control of your health. I recommend a hair tissue mineral analysis test once or twice a year as a way to receive information that you can use to fine-tune your program and either hasten your return to health, or lessen your symptoms.

A hair analysis usually needs to be obtained through a health care professional (which can be expensive - $200 and up). However, we offer a service that allows you to get a comprehensive hair tissue mineral analysis from a federally licensed laboratory called Trace Elements, Inc. The cost is only $125.

Each hair analysis contains a detailed 10-15 page report from the laboratory itself, which shows bar graph readings indicating high, low and reference range levels for toxic metals, essential minerals and significant mineral ratios.

Unlike some labs that test hair tissue analysis, Trace Elements, Inc. does not wash the hair at the lab. Washing the hair removes some of the loosely bound minerals and can reduce some mineral readings by 50 percent or more. The hair sample is prepared in their licensed clinical laboratory by using a series of chemical and high temperature digestive procedures. Testing is then performed using highly sophisticated detection equipment and methods to achieve the most accurate and precise results.

The Comprehensive Hair Tissue Analysis report details graph results for 8 toxic heavy metals/elements, 15 nutritional minerals/elements, 15 additional elements, 7 significant mineral ratios, and 9 toxic metal ratios. Once you purchase the hair analysis from us, we send you a hair sample kit with instructions on how to take the hair sample.

To view a sample of the bar graph measurements for each mineral element and significant ratios, click here or the bar graph images above.

Nutritional Elements: Extensively studied, the nutrient elements have been well defined and are considered essential for many biological functions in the human body. They play key roles in such metabolic processes such as muscular activity, endocrine function, reproduction, skeletal integrity, and overall development.

Toxic Elements: The toxic elements or "heavy metals" are well-known for their interference upon normal biochemical function. They are commonly found in the environment and therefore are present to some degree, in all biological systems. However, these metals clearly pose a concern for toxicity when accumulation occurs to excess.

Additional Elements: These elements are considered as possibly essential by the human body. Additional studies are being conducted to better define their requirements.

Significant Ratios: If the synergistic relationship (or ratio) between certain minerals in the body is disturbed, studies show that normal biological functions and metabolic activity can be adversely affected. Even at extremely low concentrations, the synergistic and/or antagonistic relationships between minerals still exist, which can indirectly affect metabolism.

Toxic Ratios: It is important to note that individuals with elevated toxic levels may not always exhibit clinical symptoms associated with those particular toxic minerals. However, research has shown that toxic minerals/metals can also produce an antagonistic effeect on various essential minerals, eventually leading to distrubances in their metabolic utilization.

To view a sample of the detailed explanation of results patient report, please click here. For a complete overview of the various sections covered in the Comprehensive Hair Analysis Report, please click here.

To view complete details of the elements measured and to order the Comprehensive Hair Mineral Analysis, please click here.

For a list of FAQ’s about hair analysis, please click here.

Once you purchase the hair analysis from us, we send you a hair sample kit with instructions on how to take the hair sample. You then send the hair sample to the Trace Elements lab, and the lab sends us the detailed report/results, which we then mail to you (there is an option for emailing the results as well to save time).

An explosion of scientific interest has occurred in a glucoside extract from the white peony root for its ability to treat autoimmune diseases by bringing a dysfunctional, over-excited immune system back into balance.

Studies show that peony glucosides, when used for 5 years or more, can dramatically reduce the rate of people experiencing lupus flares to just 3%, compared with 19% in those using the supplement for less than 5 years or only intermittently, and 35% in those not using it at all.⁷

When peony glucosides are used in combination with mainstream medicines, the results include reductions in disease activity, less need for prednisone and other immunosuppressive therapies, and a reduced rate of infections.⁸

Lab indicators of disease severity dropped along with lower levels of certain inflammatory markers and lower levels of the characteristic lupus autoantibody, indicating a lower level of lupus disease activity in the body.

In patients receiving only mainstream drug therapy, rates of remission were 6.4%, while rates of partial remission were 29.0%, and those for whom it was ineffective was 64.5%. However, in those patients who received peony glucosides plus standard medical treatment, the results were 20.7% for remission, 51.7% for partial remission, and only 27.6% ineffective after 3 months of supplementation.⁹

Other studies of peony glucosides combined with Western-style medications reveal similar positive results—faster onset of action, decreased number of side effects, lowered markers of inflammation, and reduced need for immune-suppressive medications.^1-3,9-11

Lab studies show that peony glucosides produce these significant improvements in lupus patients through a rebalancing of immune system cells, possibly by increasing the number of cells that suppress inflammation.^12,13 And in mouse studies, animals with lupus and its associated kidney disease (nephritis) had a significant reduction in urinary protein content, indicating improved kidney function, following supplementation.¹⁴ Supplemented animals’ kidneys also showed less visible lupus-related damage, and serum levels of lupus-related autoantibodies dropped significantly.¹⁴

"Reprinted with permission of Life Extension®"