Joint pains

A lifetime of wear and tear on the joints often leads to degeneration of the joint structures, especially the cartilage. The most common victims are the weight-bearing joints, such as the knees and hips, as well as the joints of the hands.

The most notable symptom that something is out of balance is arthritis, or stiffness and pain in the joints, with stiffness in the morning being one of the first warning signs. As the condition progresses, one experiences pain in the joints that gets worse with activity and is relieved with rest.

Arthritis and joint problems are caused, in part, by the inability of the body's joint-surrounding cartilage to regrow and repair damage that comes from activity in the course of daily life. A factor believed to influence this degeneration is the body's lowered ability to manufacture a substance known as glucosamine.

What is Glucosamine?

Glucosamine is a combination of glucose (sugar) and amines (compounds used by the body to manufacture protein). Glucosamines are what give cartilage its gel-like and shock-absorbing qualities.

In the early 1980s, in a series of double-blind studies in Europe, test subjects were given 500 mg glucosamine three times daily (1.5 grams total). The patients noticed significant reduction in joint pain, tenderness and swelling when comparing glucosamine to both a placebo and to the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen .

In a study in Portugal the efficacy of oral glucosamine was greater than anti- inflamatory agents, cartilage extracts, and vitamins. The study found glucosamine convenient to use, and having a high degree of tolerability. Glucosainine is better than other means of treatment because it is effective, well-tolerated, and can be used for long periods of time.

Convinced of glucosamine's effectiveness, many in the European medical community now use it as the treatment of choice for arthritis. Glucosamine is preferred over other cartilage extracts because of its easy absorbability.

Common meddical treatments for arthritis include analgesics, narcotics, gold therapy, corticosteroids, acetaminophen, aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, immunosuppressive drugs and other pain killers. While these treatments may temporarily mask symptoms, they are harsh and can end up doing more damage to the body's joints in the long run.

Fortunately, given proper nutrition the body can often rebuild damaged joints and cartilage.