[goodnesswins]

Where do you get YOUR information? I will not use corticosteroids.....I WILL get to the bottom of the problem....likely mycoplasma within cells (strep gone hiding?)....

[spunkets]

This link from the AF illustrates the connection with strep I'm trying to convey. Here the link with infectious cause and immune system is clearer. They use the statement, "It sets off a disease process". The same happens in RA. It's just more complicated and subtle, with more unknowns and less understanding.

The article headlining this thread is about the recent hoopla over C reactive protein and atherosclerosis. Historically, all the clear evidence presenting itself to folks looking at atherosclerosis, was that of an immune reponse to the inner walls of arteries. That is what is observed at the beginning of and throughout the progression of the disease. Atherosclerotic plaques are not caused by junk food deposits. Their cause is unknown and the mechanism is immune attack. The initial disease starts with monocyte infiltration into the vessel walls. That is the beginning and bulk of the initial plaque.