TEDxEast - Ari Meisel Beats Crohn's Disease

It is inspiring in many ways, but please read between all the lines.

His tests are blood tests that are normal and don't show any sign of active disease. Blood tests!

This doesn't mean he's cured or as he put it "no evidence of any disease".

q

It's not cured. He's in remission, and he's done a bang-up job.

He shared misinformation based on a blood test, nothing else visual.

you're right, it's all semantics, I see what you don't. I don't deny he's doing well. I'd never say cured.

q

no meds is no meds, I'd take that as a cure any day.
Quincy stop being such a Debbie Downer on this forum and let folks have some darn hope, will you please?

I'm with Pluot and quincy. He could have said "cured the flare" or "produced a remission". He could also have framed the physical and dietary things he does as "maintenance" - to me the difference between lasting remission and cure is whether some maintenance (drug or otherwise) is needed to keep the simmering pot form boiling over again.

The way he puts it is likely to harm more with misinformation and misdirected hope than it is to help others. He may be in remission, but is far form enlightened or truly caring about the health of others.

.... and calling quincy, or anybody just trying to be accurate, a "debbie downer" is a rank attempt at censorship. shame on beatUC

I am happy for this guy and I am glad he is sharing how lifestyle brought him to remission. Maybe his protocol can help others. But there is no way he is "cured". He has found a way to control his disease, hopefully permanently but I am sure that if he regressed back to his old lifestyle then he will be sick as a dog again. To me that means remission, not a cure.

This forum is full of people who have progressed to the point of showing no signs of the disease. Many others like myself are on no meds. I can praise myself for being a "good boy" but I know that I am just lucky. I see others here who have worked on their lifestyle, meds, alternatives... everything and were not able to improve.

Many people go without meds for long stretches, that doesn't mean they are cured IMO. Maybe he was misdiagnosed.

I am glad he is is remission.

I can tell you that if I ate a high fiber raw vegan diet, I would be typing this from the hospital.

I'm going to chime in on this one... Again, being new here and all...

Personally - I achieved the exact same status as this fellow in the video, both verbally right after my colonoscopy procedure by my GI and later in a letter with the pathology report and all perfectly normal blood counts and blood work. Looked exactly like the letter he showed in his video. I have no detectable signs of crohns-colitis is what it said. No detectable signs of inflammation and a perfectly normal colon. I still remember the drive home from the hospital -I was in tears of joy... seriously. I beat it! I’m “cured” of the incurable disease! It’s burned into my memory and no words can truly describe the way I felt that day.
I used both med's (Remicade and Methotrexate) along with diet (strict SCD) and TONS of exercise for two years or more to accomplish this result. The same as what this fellow did with perhaps slightly more powerful meds.

THEN:

Here’s what happened. At around the same time (or within a few months of the diagnosis) I could not continue with the Remicade due to a reaction I had. So I had to stop. What did I say to myself? I said what the hell does it matter – I don’t have this disease any more, I’m “cured” and it’s been over a year or two. I was thinking I should stop anyway. More subsequent tests keep confirming that I am perfectly fine. I’ll just keep dieting and exercising and enjoy the new, super healthy perfect me… life goes on.
The thing is.

It didn’t.

My doctor expressed great concern, when I had to stop Remicade. She said based on her experience with all her patients, once people stop it, the disease can and usually ultimately does return. Regardless of diet and exercise. She said it just goes un-noticed for a period of time. Even though you can’t feel anything wrong. “Subtle” is the word she used. “Statictically” was another term she used. What did I think of this comment from her? I said to myself what the hell does she really know? All she wants to do is push this med crap like all the other docs… Diet and exercise did this for me… Not the med’s. So off all med’s I went. Because I refused to consider using slightly less powerful maintenance meds in place of the Remicade – she refused to treat me any further and made arrangements for me to see a new GI… who of course reiterated the exact same thing she said. This in turn just frustrated me to no avail – How can they not see that diet and exercise is the answer to this??? I said this to myself over and over… I’m living proof…

I lasted another year or two perfectly fine – then, without fail, just as she said would occur. Ever, so slowly but surely the symptoms began to return. Even though I was religious with diet and exercise. I’m at the point now where I would actually go to the Remmy Clinic today if the opportunity arose. I’d chance another reaction/all the side effects over having to feel like this any longer. The impact this disease has on us all is horrific.

That all being said,

I support “alternative therapies” - to this day. And anyone that chooses diet and exercise can only be doing themselves good for a variety of reasons – But the fact remains – statistically, the disease recurs. My GI was correct on this one. Maybe there’s only months involved between – and maybe for some it’s many years – and even for a few select lucky one’s perhaps it never returns…. This is the unknown that not only do we as patients face, but our doctors do as well. They have genuine concern for our long term well-being as do we.

I just wanted to share this, not to put a downer on the whole diet and exercise thing – but so that newly diagnosed people have another view from someone with experience in this. I’m on 8 years now of dealing with this though all the ups and downs. I know I’m not the only one out there with a story similar to this. There’s tons of people with the same experience.

Hat’s off to all those whom have used diet and exercise to get and or/keep in remission. I get sooooo excited for people when they achieve this. It’s awesome! But do be cautious of anyone claiming a “cure”. And more importantly to the newbies, please, please, at least listen to what your doctor is saying about your medications and try to understand it from their point. They deal with this day in and day out for years on end with thousands of patients. They really are experts in this and not out to just sell you or our government health care plan expensive drugs. They really do care about your well being. In fact if you doubt it just ask them – point blank to their face, if they care about your concerns and health... The answer they give you will shock the hell out of you. Don’t ignore the role medications play in achieving/maintaining remission. Don’t make the same stubborn mistake I made…

DO HOWEVER, make all the positive changes in health and diet and in life that you possibly can to help give yourself the upper hand, become a healthier person, enjoy a better life! It can only help!

Just my two cents worth…

Mark

DO HOWEVER, make all the positive changes in health and diet and in life that you possibly can to help give yourself the upper hand, become a healthier person, enjoy a better life! It can only help!

Just my two cents worth…

Mark

Thats right, and thats what many here just don't get, a high fibre, healthy diet is just plain better all around, but many here want to continue eating crap and then complaining how sucky their lives are.
Put down the donuts and Cheetos, give up dairy and do all you can to get an upper hand on this disease so you can be assured that you did all you could do!

Post Edited (beatUC) : 1/25/2013 10:23:09 AM (GMT-7)

Many people have been on healthy diets for years and got UC or Crohns. Many had bad diets, changed to a healthy diet and got UC or Crohns right after changing to the healthy diet. Many people on this site have tried healthy diets and had virtually no improvement whatsoever. Many people on this site have tried healthy diets which only helped moderately but they continue to have symptoms. Some people, like in the video, have had success with diet and lifestyle changes. I'm all for anyone suggesting that you should try a healthy diet or lifestyle change and see what happens but I personally think they cross the line when they come accross like this is a guaranteed cure or that the reason you got UC in the first place is because you ate wrong and didn't live the correct lifestyle. While that may be true in a percentage of cases (who knows what percentage?) that is not true in everyone. Some people got UC or Crohns from antibiotics (and a thousand other different reasons) and it had absolutely nothing to do with their diets or lifestyles and for those, changing their diets and lifestyles probably will not work, since that's not what caused their condition in the first place.

The guy in the video was doing this as a motivational speaker. It's great that this has worked on him so far but I highly doubt that when he suffers a relapse (hopefully he won't) that they will attach a footnote or asterisk on the video saying that he is no longer "cured". They will just keep hyping the video as if it were yesterday. There have been many on this site who have got colonoscopy results stating that there was no sign of disease anymore. Some of them were still having symptoms even at the same time as those results. Many others have relapsed later on after getting these kind of results. There have been motivational speakers who tell you how to get rich and wound up being broke later. I don't know about this particular guy but most motivational speakers get paid and they usually make more in fees for their appearances than they do in what it was the speach was all about in the first place.

agree with garylouisville, well said.....

i had a 10 year remission with NO meds, or diet changes.

i had a 4 year flare up where i tried differnt meds and made huge healthy diet changes with no luck....

maybe its semantics but i HATE when people say they are cured of UC.  i think it is more responsible to say remission. and yes, i think i have room to talk. ive had uc for 22 years now.

we are all so different , there is no one way towards remission.... i think some of us UCers try everything with no luck and that can get depressing, like we are dong something wrong... again , this person thinks they are in complete control of their body and they are not, nobody is. nobody. you do what you can do and sometimes it doesnt work.   my 2 cents.

What words for one may not work for another. Each with IBD is unique. Each human is unique. Each snowflake is unique.

What he said in the movie is “What I've done is replicable, for other people and other illnesses… with the right tinkering, noodling, obsessing, we can overcome the insurmountable.”

miriam webster definition of cure: recovery or relief from a disease

just because western medicine tells us there is no cure - does make it true for us. What is *your* truth. Ask within. Question. Educate

western medicine has a great place in society. I love my allopathic doctors. And I'll continue to use them. But I also recognize their limitations and lack of education on nutrition, lack of education on mind body and spirit - which is what makes health comlete. I don't blame the doctors, it's the system that is broken. I also acknowledge that we don't have healthcare, we have a disease management system that wants us to not die, and keep coming back. Lialda. Remicade, Humeria. Prednisone etc etc. none are cures. But the answer is out there. Never give up. Ari Meisel is just one example of many I have come across, many who have posted on here. Many who have not. the answers are out there.