The treatment is based on 20 years of research at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Stenberg, a professor of chemistry, was spurred by his wife's condition. Helen Stenberg had suffered from arthritis since she was 18, and it was devouring her joints. The breakthrough came in l983. In studying how the body reacts to inflammation by releasing high concentrations of a natural cortisone, hydrocortisone, Stenberg found that people with arthritis are unable to produce the extra amounts of hydrocortisone.
Prednisone is a synthetic form of cortisone.
In large daily doses, it can cause softening of the bones and stomach distress. Under Microdose Therapy, much lower dosages are used and then only when pain becomes severe. Patients learn to monitor their needs during two days of training at one of several private clinics that have been set up for this purpose. They then return home but remain under the clinic's supervision for six months. During the two days of training, patients keep track of their condition by scoring each body part for its pain level every morning on a scale of 0-9.