Help With Arthritis Pain-Using Supplements

Using Nutritional Supplements to Reduce the Pain of Arthritis

• Arthritis is the number one cause of disability in the United States. In effects one in three people. The symptoms include pain, swelling and stiffness of the joints. There is no cure for this disease. This has made many sufferers look to non conventional or alternative treatments to ease their symptoms. Most of the sources of these alternative treatments are biological. This means that they are derived from plants or animals. This is what gives them the label of natural treatments, or nutritional supplements.

• One of the most common nutritional supplements used to treat the symptoms of arthritis is definitely glucosamine. This is often in combination with another supplement called chondroitin sulfate. The success of this nutritional supplement has to do with the sheer physiology of our cartilage. The cartilage that covers the end of our bones and is what is affected in arthritis is called articular cartilage. This cartilage is made up of cells called chondrocytes and the material that surrounds the cells is called matrix. This cartilage is 95% matrix and 5% cells. This matrix is composed of collagen, a protein and glycosaminoglycans. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are the two molecules that are found in our articular cartilage. These components are what give the cartilage its unique characteristics like strength and flexibility. Which are the vital components to pain free joint movement. Laboratory studies have shown that glucosamine stimulates cartilage cells and they have shown that chondroitin sulfate inhibits many of the enzymes that lead to the break down of cartilage and fluid in knee joints.

• What does this mean to you? Well, again looking at past studies, it has shown that people who suffer with mild to moderate osteoarthritis, which is the most common type of arthritis that took either the glucosamine or the chondroitin, reported having significant reduction in their joint pain. The pain relief was found to be very similar to that of what was achieved when the patients took traditional anti-inflammatory drugs. The benefit to taking the nutritional supplements instead of prescribed meds is the fact that these supplements slow the cartilage damage that is done in people that have osteoarthritis. Currently the National Institute of Health is conducting a very in-depth clinical study to get the conclusive results on the benefit of these supplements.

• There are still other nutritional supplements that can also be used to treat the symptoms of arthritis. Bromelain is an enzyme that is found in pineapple. Bromelain has anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties that are very similar to aspirin. The benefit to using Bromelain instead of aspirin, there aren’t any side effects. Bromelain works by inhibiting the productions of inflammatory prostaglandins and promotes the production of the anti-inflammatory prostaglandins.

• Ascorbic acid is another nutritional supplement that is a very powerful antioxidant. This antioxidant removes the free radicals that damage the cartilage which have been suggested to be a possible cause to osteoarthritis. Studies have shown that ascorbic acid, as well as other antioxidants can reduce the risk of cartilage loss and slow disease progression in osteoarthritis.

• Manganese is mineral that our bodies need in small amounts in order to make the enzymes that are vital to the growth and support of cartilage tissue. Manganese is also an antioxidant and crucial component of Sodium Oxide Dimutase a large molecule that is our body’s primary defense against free radicals.

• Quercetin is a bioflavonoid that has been shown to reduce the biosynthesis of inflammatory compounds by the body. These compounds are like gas on a fire, the fuel the inflammation process in our joints which then increases the pain the damage that is done to the joint. This supplement decreases the production of the inflammatory compound, thereby reducing the pain, redness and destruction of the joint cartilage.

• There is also tumeric. This is a very popular spice especially in India that is a very potent anti-inflammatory. Herbalists have recommended tumeric for pain and swelling of arthritis for many years. Tumeric can also benefit the liver and gallbladder.

• Feverfew is an herb that has a rather interesting history. The legend behind this herb is that many, many years ago feverfew saved the life of a person that fell off the Parthenon temple in Greece. True or not, there is a British medical journal that reported the ability of feverfew to inhibit the body’s release of two different inflammatory agents, one from platelets and the other from white blood cells. These agents are thought to cause migraines and may play a key role in rheumatoid arthritis.

• While none of these nutritional supplements can cure your arthritis, they can make significant improvements in your symptoms. Treating yourself by using more natural ways of healing not only offer the advantage of fewer side effects, but also increases your health benefits by adding fewer toxins into the body.

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