ARTICLE 5: GLUCOSAMINE AND JOINT HEALTH

Many of us competitive athletes are familiar with the pain and discomfort of torn ligaments, pulled tendons, and torn cartilage in knees. Then, to add further insult to our injuries, arthritis starts creeping insidiously into our lives as we grow older. To stop this pain and discomfort, many people use over-the-counter anti-inflammatories such as aspirin or ibuprofen, much touted by drug companies as the only answer. But there is mounting evidence inflammatories inhibit the body's ability to produce cartilage. In fact, common anti-inflammatories used by many physicians to treat knee pain are now suspected to be a major cause of ligament and cartilage destruction.

In the knee, for example, much of the pain, inflammation, and arthritis occurs because of damage to the cartilage cushion, which leaves the heads of the leg bones, the femur and the tibia, grinding on each other. A good study on subjects with arthritic knees was done at St. John's Hospital in Oporto, Portugal. Dr. Antonio Vaz randomly divided a group of 68 patients, giving the first group a daily dose of 1.5 grams of glucosamine sulfate, and the second group 1.2 grams of ibuprofen (Motrin).

Results showed that by the end of the study, the glucosamine group had significantly less pain than the ibuprofen group. Another double-blind study divided 30 patients with chronic arthritis into two groups. One group received 500 mg of glucosamine sulfate per day for 14 days. The other group received a placebo. Total symptom scores, including pain, swelling, tenderness and loss of function, improved by 71% in the glucosamine group, but were little changed in the placebo group. A study with young athletes reported even more spectacular findings. Fifty-one male and 17 female athletes with cartilage damage of the knee were given 1500 mg of glucosamine sulfate daily for 40 days, and then 750 mg for 90-100 days. Of the 68 athletes, 52 had complete disappearance of their symptoms and resumed full athletic training. A follow-up 12 months later showed no signs of cartilage damage in any of the athletes.

How Glucosamine Works

To understand the mechanism of glucosamine action, we need to look at the biochemistry of the connective tissue that makes up your ligaments, cartilage, tendons and spinal discs. There are two main components of these tissues. The first is collagen. The second is a long chain made up mainly of sugars called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). These GAGs are the tissue framework that collagen holds onto. Collagen and GAGs together continuously construct and reconstruct your tendons and ligaments. This is where glucosamine comes in. Glucosamine is the major precursor of GAGs. But even more important, the making of glucosamine from glucose and glutamine is your body's rate-limiting step in GAG production, and hence the rate-limiting step in re-modeling your connective tissue. Following connective tissue injury, such as a cartilage tear, this limit does not allow the body to make sufficient glucosamine for optimal healing. And, as we age, the body's ability to convert glucose and glutamine to glucosamine declines because of the reductions in the level of the converting enzyme glucosamine synthetase. This is where oral glucosamine comes in. Taking glucosamine supplements can increase GAG levels by up to 170%.

What to Look For in Glucosamine Supplements

There are many companies selling various glucosamine supplements on the market. Many of the formulas display a complete lack of knowledge of human biochemistry. Then there is n-acetyl-glucosamine (NAG). By itself NAG is almost useless because it is only one of the sugars in GAGs and does not stimulate GAG synthesis alone. It requires glucosamine sulfate to bypass the rate limiting step and trigger GAG production. NAG should only be taken in combination with glucosamine sulfate. Always buy glucosamine sulfate rather than straight glucosamine. Research indicates that sulfur is an essential part of the molecule during tissue remodeling. In fact, sulfur is a major component of your body. Glucosamine sulfate has been shown to be virtually non-toxic to animals even at 8 grams per kg of body weight per day. The human studies discussed above reported no side effects at all. Dosage should depend on the severity of the problem. Remember that nutrients work synergistically, never on their own, so always make sure you are taking a good quality multi-vitamin and mineral supplement along with any other special nutrients.

PBN recommends Cytosport'sJoint Matrix as the premier joint health supplement.

Information from an article by Michael Colgan / Colgan Chronicals.

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