Many injuries and pain occur in joints and such prevalent conditions as
osteoarthritis and back pain due to spinal disk degeneration are
joint-related.
Whether you have joint pain or not, it is prudent to
address the nutritional needs of these important structures. Exercise
places a lot of wear and tear on the cartilage and ligaments that make
up joints and you need to ensure you feed and protect these structures,
whether it's preventive or therapeutic. Osteoarthritis affects more
than 20 million Americans and may double over the next 10 years.
Pharmacological treatment of
arthritic joint diseases such as
NSAIDs
and acetaminophen are aimed primarily at alleviating the symptoms and
can have serious adverse effects associated with their long-term use,
but do little to correct the underlying pathology. Certain dietary
supplements can not only reduce pain, but also correct the structural
aspects of the joint and therefore slow, or perhaps prevent and reverse
disease progression. The two ingredients with the most scientific
support are
glucosamine and
chondroitin,
which are normal constituents and important structural components of
joint cartilage. The latest study validating the therapeutic effects of
glucosamine and chondroitin comes from Japan where researchers tested
the effects of a novel joint formula in patient switch both
osteoarthritis of the knee and rheumatoid arthritis. For 3 months the
patients supplemented with a formula consisting of glucosamine
hydrochloride (1200 mg/day), chondroitin (75-111 mg/day), and quercetin
(45 mg/day). In addition to making standard measurement of pain and
mobility, a unique feature of this study was the evaluation of actual
synovial fluid obtained from the knee. The results showed favorable
effects in pain symptoms and ability to perform daily activities in
osteoarthritis patients. In addition, the synovial fluid from these
patients showed several signs of improvement suggesting the supplements
were bioavailable. The results of this short-term trial support earlier
work showing desirable effects of glucosamine and chondroitin on
management of pain and symptoms of osteoarthritis.
Matsuno
H, Nakamura H, Katayama K, Hayashi S, Kano S, Yudoh K, Kiso Y. Effects
of an oral administration of glucosamine-chondroitin-quercetin
glucoside on the synovial fluid properties in patients with
osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem.
2009 Feb;73(2):288-92. Epub 2009 Feb 7.
