28/11/2025
Dr. Rex Newnham: The Australian scientist who explored borax as a natural support for arthritis
Borax is a naturally occurring mineral made of sodium, boron, oxygen, and water.
Because its particles form from positively and negatively charged ions, it is also chemically classified as a type of salt.
It forms in ancient dried-up lake beds and is mainly mined in Turkey and California.
In the 1960s, Australian soil and plant scientist, naturopath, and osteopath Dr. Rex Newnham developed arthritis. Traditional medication did not help, so he turned to what he knew best: plant chemistry. He realised that the plants in his area were boron-deficient, and because boron helps plants use calcium properly (boron is essential for calcium metabolism in plant cell walls), he wondered if this mineral played a similar role in joint health.
He experimented on himself using borax (sodium tetraborate decahydrate). According to his reports, his pain, swelling, and stiffness improved dramatically within weeks.
Word spread quickly. Within five years — purely through word of mouth — he was selling 10,000 bottles per month. He could not keep up with demand and approached a pharmaceutical company to help distribute it. That was a mistake.
They indicated this product would replace more expensive medications and reduce their profits. Individuals connected to the industry sat on government health committees, and in 1981, Australia passed a regulation declaring boron and its compounds poisons at any concentration. Dr. Newnham was fined, and his arthritis discovery was effectively stopped in Australia.
Before the ban, he conducted and collected clinical and observational data including a double-blind trial at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in the mid‑1980s, which reported significant improvement in participants who received boron. This added to his ongoing case that boron deficiency might be linked to arthritis rates worldwide.
Dr. Newnham also compared soil boron levels with national arthritis prevalence, noting that areas with extremely depleted soils — such as Jamaica and Mauritius — had strikingly high arthritis rates.
Selected Published Works by Dr. Rex Newnham
Newnham, R. E. — Boron deficiency and arthritis (reports/monographs cited in historical accounts).
Newnham, R. E. (1994). Essentiality of boron for healthy bones and joints.
Newnham, R. E. — Boron and arthritis: results of a double-blind trial (Royal Melbourne Hospital, mid-1980s).
Newnham, R. E. — Soil boron levels and arthritis prevalence (epidemiological field reports).
