Most would agree with this four-let...

Most would agree with this four-letter word to characterize osteoarthritis: p-a-i-n.

To ease that pain, mostly orthodox doctors recommend taking aspirin -- semi-synthetic medicine which causes blood-thinning and ofttimes bleeding of the stomach lining (and to which a certain quantity of patients may even be allergic). If not aspirin, then the prescription is usually a armed force of other pain-killers.

Aspirin, and other pain-killers, have adverse forces on the stomach

Not protracted ago, a patient on 600 mg of Motrin four times daily wrote to Dr Gott the newspaper columnist syndicated in centurys of newspapers by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. This reader was affected about rumors regarding this medicine's adverse drifts on the stomach. Inasmuch as Dr Gott is Establishment-oriented, his candor was some-what surprising:

"Motrin, Feldene Voltarin, Naprosyn and similar physics are very useful in treating the pain and stiffness of arthritis. However, they all have a usual side effect: stomach irritation that may progres to ulcers

"Although this complication is [for the chiefly part] dose-related, sooner or later anyone taking these medicines will probably experience symptoms of indigestion and heartburn. Of more practical make anxious some patients develop ulcers and intestinal bleeding without having had any prior warning."

These frank words about pain-relievers give little comfort to the estimated 40 million sufferer of the pair major forms of arthritis: osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

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What is osteoarthritis?

It is a wearing away of cartilage, an elastic tissue in the joints, and a thickening of the lubricant-containing synovial tissues which insulate contact of bone with joint cavities, leading to one's motions becoming increasingly difficult and painful.

Osteoarthritis can happen to anyone who places his or her limbs within unusual movements and stresses. These are primarily, moreover not exclusively, obese individuals, of frequent occurrence participants in contact sports, mail deliverers, weight lifters, and stevedores (those who load and unload heavy cargo at ship ports).

One strange and helpful natural agent for those afflicted with osteoarthritis relieves pain and increases mobility with small in number if any, side effects when used through the whole extent of a long period. This is supplemental glucosamine, an amino-monosaccharide naturally occurring in the human corpse in supporting structures.

In the International Journal of Tissue Reactions is a report upon double-blind, controlled, randomized study of parallel disposes over a four- to six-week time frame, involving 606 osteoarthritis patients. Glucosamine sulfate rated equally with the NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) Ibuprofen in pain reduction and motion enhancement, and rated significantly higher than a placebo. Side powers with glucosamine sulfate were one-fifth those in the Ibuprofen assign places to -- 7 percent vs. 37 percent showing that the former is safe and suitable for long-term use.

90 percent of the oral dose is absorbed

In a ordeal of comparative absorption in six healthy male proffers given intravenous, intramuscular and oral doses, as reported in the German publication, Arzneimittel-Forschung, the first brace were more efficiently absorbed than the oral. However, after oral use, nearly 90 percent of glucosamine sulfate is absorbed, confirming earlier findings in animal studies. Glucosamine sulfate changes into glucosamine, which is then well-absorbed in tissue, bone and joint cartilage.

One of the additional advantages of glucosamine sulfate is that it not no other than relieves the pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis, if it were not that also appears to stop the advance of the disease. There is also a certain evidence that it actually change to the opposites it.

A double-blind study of 40 out-patients with osteoarthritis of the knee in the St John Hospital in Oporto, Portugal, showed a slight initial advantage for Ibuprofen (12 grams daily) v glucosamine sulfate (15 grams daily). However, after the eighth and final week, the advantage shifted to glucosamine sulfate.

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