Entia Biosciences Inc. has developed a new medical food for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), a systemic autoimmune disease that causes pain, stiffness, swelling, and loss of function in the joints. RA affects roughly 1-2% of the world-wide population and occurs when a person's immune system mistakenly starts attacking healthy tissue, causing inflammation in the joints and a progressive loss of flexibility. If not managed properly, over time, RA can cause joint damage and can even result in permanent joint destruction. ErgoD2(TM) Flex-RA is based on Entia's proprietary ErgoD2(TM) whole-food formulations that are 100% vegan and USDA certified organic. ErgoD2(TM) contains naturally high concentrations of the powerful antioxidants Ergothioneine and Ergocalciferol (Vitamin D2), which has been enhanced using Entia's patent pending UV light technology to safely increase vitamin D2 levels by greater than 1,000%. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that helps maintain a healthy immune system and activates the cells that fight inflammation and infection. During the past decade, there's been an explosion of research suggesting that vitamin D additionally plays a significant role in joint health and that low levels may be a risk factor for rheumatologic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. According to a study presented at the 2008 European Union League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) meeting in Paris, nearly 75% of patients who presented at a rheumatology clinic, including those who were subsequently diagnosed with inflammatory joint diseases, soft-tissue rheumatism, uncomplicated musculoskeletal backache or osteoporosis, were deficient in vitamin D. Ergothioneine is an important amino acid that is not manufactured in mammals but is acquired exclusively from food and is carried throughout the body by a unique and specific transporter (ETT; human gene symbol SLC22A4). Research at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has shown that cells lacking ETT are more susceptible to damage and death from free radicals and oxidative stress and in November 2011, Entia announced a study with Lifespan Biosciences to determine where this unique transporter gene is over and under expressed in a wide variety of normal and diseased human tissues. The results of this study confirmed high concentrations of ETT in proliferating reactive synoviocytes and subsynovial histiocytes within RA tissues with little to no expression in normal tissues, suggesting an essential physiological purpose for Ergothioneine in RA.