Helen Stenberg is the living inspiration for the Helen Foundation.


In 1971, a physician at the University of North Dakota Rehabilitation Hospital diagnosed Helen's condition as rheumatoid arthritis. By the age of 37, the pain and swelling had become almost constant in her hands and knees. With a family history of rheumatoid arthritis, Helen was no stranger to its effects, and knew what lay ahead all to well.

In Helen's own words, "To mentally accept the fact that I had rheumatoid arthritis was a big adjustment...I wondered "Why me?" I was locked in a body with pain from which there was no escape. I felt hopeless...I spent many nights crying."

Helen's husband, Virgil, was a professor at the University of North Dakota. Upon her diagnosis, he went the university's medical library to read about rheumatoid arthritis. It was clear there was no known cause, and that there was no cure.

During pregnancies, she felt great. However, after the births of their four children, she had big flares of pain and swelling. After the birth of their first child, Helen recounts "The pain was so great, I was not able to lift her up from the crib." At times, even the weight of bed sheets was painful. Virgil's arthritis research continued, throughout the many years of Helen's suffering.

Helen suffered for years with arthritis pain and inflammation. After 6 surgeries and 19 joint replacements, she was still no closer to relief from her pain.

In 1983, 12 years after Virgil pledged to begin research on arthritis, he returned from a speaking engagement in Pittsburgh with great excitement. He believed he finally understood rheumatoid arthritis, and how to control it!

After years of research in arthritis and inflammation, Virgil was busy researching possibilities for inflammation control. As a Chemistry professor, he designed and made new chemicals as candidates for anti-inflammatory medications. During this time, he and his research team learned much about the anti-inlammatory properties of cortisone, a natural hormone produced by the adrenal glands in every person. Cortisone is the only available medicine that reverses all clinical signs of inflammation -- heat, redness, swelling and pain.

Virgil proposed that an emergency cortisone 'pulse' existed in the body. He defined its proposed role for stopping natural inflammation, and that, if this proposed cortisone pulse was weakened, natural inflammation would continue into the prolonged inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis. Virgil believed that the solution to rheumatoid arthritis was to teach individual patients to create a replacement emergency cortisone pulse.

In 1984, Virgil designed a program to replace the emergency cortisone pulse using cortisone tablets, and taught Helen how to use it.

Helen learned the technique quickly - pain is a powerful motivating force. Within a month, Helen became skilled in using the replacement cortisone pulse. This was the creation of Microdose Therapy™.

• Helen's pain left, and stayed away.
• Helen's morning stiffness left and stayed away.
• Helen's fatigue in the early morning left and stayed away.

Rheumatoid arthritis had been winning the battles, but for Helen, cortisone won the war. Virgil got his wife back.

For the last 20 years, Helen has been without pain. She awakes each day without stiffness, and keeps her inflammation under control using Microdose Therapy™.

You can, too. Don't settle for a life in pain. Set yourself free from pain. Take control of your pain and symptoms.