The Knees are Major Focal Points of Pain Related to OsteoArthritis
Weight Bearing Joints are Especially Susceptible to Arthritis
Since your knees take such a pounding throughout your life, they are highly susceptible to injury and disease. This is particularly true with baby boomers as they seem to have continued being more active in their middle ages. They suffer as much from injury as from disease because they're active in more strenuous leisure pusuits than their parents were and for a longer time into their middle ages. Even so, without proper care injuries provide a pathway for degenerative disease to set in.
Knees are highly complex joint structures that few consumers understand very well. Caring for these structures is complicated by lifestyle, dietary habits, environmental effects and ill-conceived commercial information. For example, there's a proliferation of glucosamine and chondroitin products on the market aimed at some form of joint health ... but what? These are things we'd like to clear up.
For the sake of simplicity, look at the knee joint as having four main parts: bone, a senovial sack, cartilage and ligaments. The bones, of course, form the super structure. They are covered with cartilage to cushion them. The joint is filled with liquid to maintain separation between the bones and covered with the senovial sack to hold the liquid in place. The entire joint is blanketed with a tough, flexible senew-like covering called ligaments. The ligaments connect the bones to each other while covering and protecting the inner structure of the joint. Simple enough?
These components have one thing in common. They're made of collagen - Type I and Type II collagen. Your skin, hair and nails are also collagen, just a differnent types (there are 14 type of collagen in the human body). Without getting into the complexities of collagen formation, it's important to understand one thing: all forms of collagen and it's components are sulfur dependent. Every living cell requires sulfur.
According to Arthritis Foundation, for every pound of weight lost, there is a four pound reduction in the load exerted on the knee for each step taken during daily activities. In addition, losing as few as 11 pounds can cut the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis by 50 percent in some women.
Knowing that there is more to treating arthritis than just blocking pain sensors, Longeva Labs has introduced a unique pain management system that's sweeping the country. The Longeva difference provides fast acting relief from pain while providing protection for the cartilage and the connective tissues that support your joints - where irritation and pain begins. Get the pain under control, protect your soft connective tissue, and you'll start moving better. If you move better, you'll get better. Get relief, get moving, get better ... that's how it works.
Maybe you're one of the millions of Americans caught in the pain-pill cycle looking for relief from arthritis pain and other minor aches and pains that we experience as we age regardless of the risk of sacrificing our livers, stomachs and cardiovasular system. Believe it or not, there are industries that would like to keep it that way. It keeps the money flowing in the same pot without interruption. But you can safely deal with arthritis pain and get better flexibility by having abetter understanding as to how your muscleoskeletal system is put together and seeing what breaks it down.
Do You Think You Have Osteoarthritis?
- Do you experience pain or stiffness in any joint after periods of inactivity or excessive use?
- Do experience a grating or "catching" sensation during joint movement?
- Do you have bony growths at the margins of the affected joints?
Osteoarthritis usually comes on slowly. You may not experience any pain at all in the early stages. If you experience any redness, swelling, heat or tenderness, see your doctor right away.
Do You Think You Have Rheumatoid Arthritis?
- Have you noticed warmth, swelling or tenderness in the small joints of your fingers, wrists or feet?
- Are the joints on both sides of the body equally (symetrically) affected?
- Are you experiencing fatigue, loss of appetite or low grade fever along with any of the other symptoms mentioned?
- Do you experience stiffness in the morning that lasts for several hours or more?
The cause of rheumatoid arthritis is not yet really known. Cells of the immune system invade the joint tissues (the synovium), causing an inflammatory response, which over time damages the cartilage and bone. See your doctor right away if you believe you are experiencing any of these symptoms.
A Quick Look at Arthritis Therapies
"Treatment of Osteoarthritis Focuses on Decreasing Pain and Improving Joint Movement." Arthritis Foundation
Plans typically include drugs, rest, exercise, and joint protection, use of heat and cold and physical therapy.
Exercise keeps joints flexible and maintains or improves muscle strength.
Joint protection, like neoprene wraps and knee braces, prevents strain or stress on painful joints.
Weight control is important for the prevention and slowing the progression of Osteoarthritis on the weight-bearing joints - knees, hips and lower back, Losing as few as 11 pounds can cut the risk of developing knee arthritis by 50% for some women and reduce pain in the knees.
Dietary supplements such as glucosamine, MSM and chondroitin sulfate have been shown in studies of knee pain and knee osteoarthritis to relieve some symptoms and improve joint function. In a recently (2006)concluded study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, participants suffering with moderate to severe pain experienced substantial relief when taking glucosamine and chondroitin. Glucosamine is sulfur (MSM) dependent.
Because its role as a major, essential structural element in the human body is becoming clearer to scientists, sulfur, particulary in the form of MSM, is emerging as a key component to overall joint health and maintenance. Sulfur's volatility to heat makes it more difficult to obtain in our highly processed diets but MSM delivers sulfur safely and efficiently without risks of toxicity.
Cartilage: the key to healthy joints.
Cartilage is the rubbery covering that protects the ends of your bones. The role of cartilage is to protect the ends of the bones serving as a shock absorber. Cartilage is primarily water - 65 to 80 percent water. The three other components that make up cartilage are:
Collagen, proteoglycans and chondrocytes.
Collagen is a fibrous protein and is the main component that makes up cartilage. Its also a building block for skin, bone, cartilage and connective tissue. Scientists have identified 14 varieties of collagen in the human body. Each type, though simillar in composition, has its own unique structure to suit its function. For example, the collagen that makes up your skin is different is structure from the collagen found in cartilage.
Proteoglycans are a combination of proteins and sugars. Strands of proteoglycans and collagen weave together and form a mesh-like tissue. This allows cartilage to flex and absorb physical shock.
Chondrocytes are cells that are found all through the cartilage. They mainly help cartilage stay healthy and grow. Sometimes, however, they release substances called enzymes that destroy collagen and other proteins.
Cartilage and MSM (methylsulfonylmethane), the Indispensable Nutritional Element
MSM is essentially sulfur ... the third most abundant mineral in your body. After oxygen, water and salt, sulfur is the next important element in human health. Sulfur is found in every living cell in the human body and without it, you could not live. Since it is a component of essential amino acids, it is the nutritional building block for protein-based tissue such as skin, hair, nail, bone and cartilage.
Sulphur provides the critical cross linking in collagen and proteoglycans that allows cartilage to maintain its flexibility. Sulfur is what holds tissue together.
Sulfur - Get Enough and Get it Often!
As the third most abundant mineral in your body, sulfur is required for the structural integrity and function of almost every protein in the body including enzymes and the keratin of skin, hair and nails. MSM is the most versatile donor of metabolically active sulfur for the synthesis of numerous organosulfur compounds and proteins in the body. As such, MSM is necessary to maintain normal immune response, healthy inflammation response, lung function, connective tissue metabolism and muscle contraction.
MSM's compatibility with skin, hair and nails allows it to easily penetrate human skin. This compatibility makes MSM attractive for topical applications. It is water-soluble and even has a toxicity level equal to water. This may also contribute to MSM's ability to help cartilage retain water.
MSM is most abundant in unpastuerized cow's milk but is also available in a variety of fruits, vegetables and grains but breaks down under heat. The generally accepted daily intake is from 2000 mg to 8000 mg.
MSM (sulfur) and Aging
You change chemically as you age. These changes manifest in your appearance and your mobility. The skin loses its elasticity (collagen) and your connective tissue becomes more brittle, rendering you more wrinkled, stiffer and less flexible. These affected tissues are all collagen based, which can be helped by the introduction of MSM (sulfur). MSM provides the elements for the basic building blocks for skin, hair, nails, bone, cartilage, tendons, ligaments and muscle.
MSM will help you move better by improving the structural integrity of cartilage, tendons and ligaments. The National Institutes of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease recommends regular exercise and rest in order to acheive better mobility provided you control your pain. Control pain and improve movement. Sounds simple enough. It is provided you have the right motivation and the right method. Get relief, get moving and you'll feel better.
Now Arthritis Sufferers Have an Ingenious, Fast-acting Pain Management System called FlexPak for Better Mobility.
FlexPak was developed by Longeva Labs following the protcols of the Arthritis Foundation and the National Institutes of Health: to effectively and quickly decrease pain and improve joint movement.
FlexPak combines miraFlex and CX2. MiraFlex, with its patented emollient, enables the active pain reliever to penetrate better, deeper and faster than other topical pain medications. CX2 is Longeva's proprietary supplement, which furnishes your body with a therapeuptic dose of organic sulfur. After oxygen, water and salt, sulfur is the next most important nutrient for human health and is absolutely essential for the protection and repair of sulfur dependent tissue such as skin, hair, nails, cartilage, bones, muscle, tendons and ligaments. Even glucosamine is sulfur dependent.
FlexPak is Fast and Effective.