Joint Relief Formula
Research Report
Published by Natural Medical Quarterly

Joint Pain and Stiffness Disappear In Scientific Tests of Natural Remedies “It’s like having new joints without surgery or side effects.”
S.J. Farley, CNC

If your joints hurt, if you have the pain and stiffness common to arthritis
sufferers the world over, you are not alone. The statistics are dismal. According to the experts at Integrative Medicine Communications, degenerative changes of bones and joints show up in x-rays in an alarming 90 percent of individuals over the age of forty. Arthritis, however, is not exclusively a problem of aging. It can show up at any time and at any age.

The term "arthritis” comes from a Greek word meaning “inflammation of a joint,” and has become the catchall word for more than a hundred different diseases lumped under the heading of rheumatic disease. Symptoms of this family of diseases include swelling, stiffness, tenderness, redness, pain, and eventual loss of joint function. Unfortunately, these are familiar words to far too many of us. The American College of Rheumatologists lists ten categories of arthritis, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, bursitis, tendonitis, fibromyalgia, lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, and a number of bone and cartilage disorders with causes ranging from wear or injury through malfunctions of the immune system and on to various disease organisms.

Standard Treatments:
Is the “Cure” Worse Than the Disease?

The primary drugs used to treat both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), a drug classification that includes aspirin. According to Dr. Michael Murray in his book Arthritis (Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, 1994), one serious side effect of NSAIDS is the “inhibition of cartilage repair and acceleration of cartilage destruction.” In other words, the standard “cure” speeds up the progression of the disease.

The fact that the quick fix offered by NSAIDS may be followed by increased pain and loss of mobility down the road is only one of the drawbacks of the standard approach. Dr. Murray calls NSAIDS “a significant cause of serious gastrointestinal tract reactions, including ulcer hemorrhage and perforation, and lead to as many as 20,000 hospitalizations and 2,600 deaths each year.” And, Dr. Larry Milam in his report on A Study of Traditional Arthritic Drugs and Promising Natural Alternatives in the Treatment of Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Bones, Joints, and Cartilage Disorders, tells us NSAIDS often cause a shocking list of symptoms. Dr. Milam's list includes allergic reactions, easy bleeding and bruising, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), fluid retention, heartburn, indigestion, abdominal cramps, gas, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, urinary tract infection, rashes, headaches, depression, dizziness, fatigue, and either weight gain or weight loss.

The second family of commonly used drugs for arthritis is the corticosteroids. These include cortisone hormones and synthetic hormones like prednisone and methylprednisone. Long-term use can cause serious, even life-threatening conditions. The least serious side effects include growth of facial hair, acne, fluid retention, weight gain, easy bruising, sleeplessness, muscle wasting, and headaches. More serious side effects are stomach ulcers, inflammation of the pancreas, and loss of bone density (osteoporosis), which makes fractures a probability. Authors Phyllis Eisenstein and Samuel Schemer, in Overcoming the Pain of Inflammatory Arthritis (Avery Publishing, NY, 1997), also caution that corticosteroids can promote atherosclerosis and may cause cataracts and glaucoma. Other studies indicate that these drugs suppress the normal functioning of the adrenal glands thereby suppressing production of natural hormones.

Then there are the SAARDS and DMARDS: Slow Acting Anti-Rheumatic Drugs, and Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs. These are used primarily in the treatment of inflammatory forms of arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis. The side effects are legion, dangerous, and extremely common.

With antimalarials like chloroquine the risk of eye damage is great. The others are as bad if not worse. D-penicillamine may cause kidney damage, blood abnormalities, drug-induced lupus, and myasthenia gravis. More than 25 percent of the people taking D-penicillamine quit within the first year due to unwanted side effects. A full 50 percent of the patients who take sulfasalazine develop side effects within the first four months of use. These range in seriousness from rashes and nausea to blood and liver abnormalities. Methotrexate comes complete with the risk of lung or kidney damage and fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver.

Cyclosporin may cause tremors, convulsions, or decreased kidney function. Azathioprine can induce bone marrow suppression or hepatitis, or both. Long-term use is believed to increase the risk of cancer.

Television commercials to the contrary, none of these drugs offer relief without risk-high risk. The price for the “quick fix” is high in all senses of the word. In terms of dollars, standard treatment for arthritis in its many forms is estimated to be a $10 billion-a-year industry in the United States. Ten billion dollars per year for drugs whose benefit is overshadowed by significant risk and toxicity. Is there any benefit at all? The jury is still out, but an increasing number of studies indicate that the benefits, if any, are temporary in nature.

A group of English Rheumatologists conducted a study running from 1964 to 1986 (22 years) of 112 arthritis patients receiving state-of-the-art treatment at a center for rheumatoid diseases in Great Britain. By the end of the study more than one-third of the patients were dead and over half were either dead or severely disabled. None of the remaining patients showed any improvement. The authors stated in conclusion: “the concept that drugs induce a remission in patients is fallacious.” In other words, the best the pharmaceutical world has to offer did not produce a single cure in any of the 112 patients participating in the study. (Jane Heimlich, “What Your Doctor Won't Tell You,” Harper Perennial, 1990.)

The Good News: Safe, Sane,
Natural Relief Is at Hand-Today

You don’t have to become an arthritis statistic. You don't have to listen to your bones crackle and pop, watch joints swell and twist, or struggle through simple chores like tying shoelaces or lowering yourself into the bathtub. Most forms of arthritis can be stopped. Stopped cold. And, in some cases, reversed.

Cells in most parts of the body wear out and are replaced daily. Even at 80 years of age the body replaces cells at the rate of a billion or so every single day. All the various component parts of joints, cartilage, bone, lubricating fluid, etc., are made up of cells and these cells number among those that are constantly being renewed and replaced. The secret is to give these cells the boost they need for repair and regeneration with safe natural substances. While some of these natural substances are working on repairing damage there are others to fight pain and inflammation without the dangerous side effects attributed to the NSAIDS and other arthritis drugs.
It's as simple as that.

Glucosamine Relieves Pain
While It Works to Promote the Regeneration of Damaged Cartilage

The most dramatic breakthrough in the repair and regeneration of arthritic joints was the discovery that a natural substance called glucosamine stimulates the growth of new cartilage in joints. In other words, joints can be repaired from the inside out — naturally. No expensive, invasive surgery, just brand new cartilage to cushion and protect hard-working joints. The real thing always works better than a substitute no matter how advanced the orthopedic replacement. Glucosamine is classified as an amino sugar. Unlike ordinary sugars that the body uses to provide energy, amino sugars are vital components of a type of carbohydrate that is incorporated into body tissues. In this manner glucosamine is involved in the structure not only of cartilage, but also of nails, tendons, skin, eyes, bones, ligaments, and heart valves.

Theoretically, glucosamine can be synthesized in the body from glucose and the amino acid glutamine. The hitch is that this process may slow down with age, or falter in times of stress when our bodies need help the most. The result is that too many of us suffer aching joints because we need more glucosamine than our bodies can produce.

Glucosamine is unique in that it provides what the experts call a biochemical “key step.” Because the processes involved in maintenance and repair of body tissues are so lengthy and so complex, the body concentrates on the intricacies of these key steps. The steps in between follow automatically. In the case of glucosamine, when it is present in sufficient quantity to serve as the key step, the formation of new cartilage is virtually guaranteed provided other raw materials are available.

Glucosamine Puts Pain and Inflammation on the Skids.
And Does It Better than NSAIDs Without Harmful Side Effects

Not only does glucosamine trigger the repair and growth of new cartilage, it offers more pain relief than the most popular NSAIDS without the side effects. In recent studies, glucosamine was compared with NSAIDS like ibuprofen and walked away with the top honors, proving to be substantially more effective. The overall result of glucosamine supplementation is significant pain relief with the added benefit of increased joint integrity. Something no NSAID can claim. Does this sound too good to be true? Or perhaps you’re wondering why, if glucosamine is so good, your doctor hasn’t prescribed it for you.

The problem is that glucosamine is a natural substance and, as such, cannot be patented. It threatens the bottom line of the $10 billion-a-year arthritis industry. The pharmaceutical companies and big medicine would just as soon you and your doctor never heard about it.

But the truth is that glucosamine does the job, and does it so well that even the ultra-conservative AMA was forced to take a look. AMA editors printed the results of an extensive review of recent trials of glucosamine in the March 15, 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The authors’ conclusion was that “trials of glucosamine and chondroitan preparations for OA (osteoarthritis) symptoms demonstrate moderate to large effects...” The authors did not, however, approve of some of the studies as many of them were done in Europe, intellectually anathema to some shortsighted individuals in the United States medical community.

More than a dozen meticulously conducted studies in the UK and Europe have shown glucosamine to be as good or better than NSAIDs. These studies universally report a positive impact on cartilage metabolism without adverse side effects.

From Portugal comes the result of a recent open field physician-supervised study designed to assess the effectiveness of glucosamine in treating the pain associated with arthritis. A total of 1201 patients were given 500 mg. of glucosamine three times a day for 50 days. Relief from pain, both at rest and during physical activity, improved steadily for 86 percent of the patients throughout the treatment period and continued for 6 to 12 weeks after the supplement was stopped. The clinical improvement in the patients was independent of gender, age of the patient, or the location of the arthritis. (Tapadinhas MJ, et al, “Oral Glucosamine Sulfate in the Management of Arthritis,” Reports on Multicentre Open Investigation in Portugal, 3(3), 1982).

In the United States the National Institute of Health has begun a large-scale trial of glucosamine. Unfortunately, results from this study will not be available for some years. In the meantime, here’s the latest news from Canada.

Canadian Study Results Provide Hard Proof
That Glucosamine Outclasses Ibuprofen

This double blind study compared the results of glucosamine sulfate with ibuprofen. Canadian physicians divided 178 patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee into two groups. One group received 1,500 milligrams of glucosamine per day. The other group was given 1,200 milligrams of ibuprofen. Neither the doctors nor the patients knew which patient was on glucosamine and which was on ibuprofen. Here’s the score:

The secret of success with glucosamine is to take enough (a minimum of 1,000 milligrams per day), and to be patient. Miracles cannot be wrought overnight. How long did it take for your joints to begin to deteriorate? Years, right? Although you may experience significant relief from pain and inflammation in the first few days, actual joint repair is a slower process. Allow two months for the damage to begin to heal and reverse. The results are worth the wait. *Note: Those with diabetes should not take glucosamine as it may affect insulin metabolism.

Additional Anti-Inflammatory Relief May Be as Close as Your Kitchen

Your spice shelf may hold a container of turmeric, one of the main ingredients in curry and Indian cuisine. From turmeric comes a compound dubbed curcumin that’s proving to be worth its weight in gold in terms of anti-inflammatory action.

The plant, Curcuma domestica, is indigenous to India where it has been a star player in Ayurvedic medicine for hundreds of years. Traditionally it has been used to protect the liver, correct gall bladder problems, lower cholesterol, and as an anti-inflammatory. When scientists took curcumin apart in the laboratory they confirmed it does all that and more.

Curcuminoids, the active phytochemicals in turmeric, are effective antioxidants, have some antibiotic action, affect prostaglandin levels, and are believed to have anti-tumoral action, although the latter action has not been thoroughly investigated.

During extensive large-scale trials in India, no side effects were reported, but impressive results were recorded with all arthritis patients whether their condition was due to wear and tear or to autoimmune problems as in rheumatoid arthritis. Curcuminoids lessened pain while increasing mobility in virtually all of the participants in the trials.

Both clinical and laboratory research indicates that the anti-inflammatory action of curcuminoids is comparable in strength to drugs like indomethacin and phenylbutazone. But curcuminoids do something more. They inhibit certain enzymes (derived from arachidonic acid) that participate in the synthesis of inflammatory substances in the body. They not only relieve the inflammation already present, they help prevent further inflammation.

And, curcuminoids seem to work for everyone. In one double blind clinical trial involving patients with rheumatoid arthritis, curcuminoids produced “significant improvement in all patients.”

The total body of research is impressive. Noted nutrition expert Dr. Richard Passwater wrote the foreword for the book Turmeric and the Healing Curcuminoids, by Muhammed Majeed, PhD and Vladimir Badmaev, MD, PhD (Keats Publishing, Inc. Rocklin, NY, 1996). In it he says, “My computer search in the National Library of Medicine’s Medline yielded more than a hundred scientific articles about turmeric compounds.” Forty-two of these articles are on the safety of turmeric compounds and 23 on the efficacy of curcuminoids in reducing inflammation. There are 34 reports on the role of curcuminoids against cancer, five scientific studies on their ability to reduce heart disease, and three studies on the ability of curcuminoids to slow the progression of HIV infection to clinical AIDS.

Boswellia Has Fought “Rheumatism” Since the Dawn of History

Boswella serrata, more familiarly known as boswellia or Indian frankincense, is used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine to treat chronic rheumatic inflammation. The resin is obtained by tapping the bark of a richly foliated tree native to Somalia and Saudi Arabia. The sap, or exudate, is left to harden for about three months then harvested. After gathering, the resin is used for medicinal purposes or becomes the main ingredient in several cosmetics.

Contemporary researchers are validating the findings listed in Ayurvedic medical texts more than 1500 years old, texts that praise the anti-arthritic properties of the resinous extract. In a series of recent studies conducted at government laboratories in India, a standardized extract from Boswella serrata was found to be both safe and highly effective.

In one of these studies, conducted at the Government Medical College in Jammu, India, some 60 percent of the patients tested experienced good to excellent results. These patients suffered severe forms of the disease with more than 75 percent of them virtually incapacitated. None were able to do normal work. Within two to four weeks after beginning the study most patients exhibited a marked lessening of morning joint stiffness and pain, together with significantly improved grip strength.

Many were able to return to a more normal life. The anti-inflammatory properties of the resin are attributed to the presence of B-boswellic acid and other triterpene acids. There is evidence, supported by solid science, that these boswellic acids reduce the leucocyte count in synovial fluid (the fluid that surrounds and cushions many joints), lower serum transaminase levels, and lower the erythrocyte sedimentation rates. Inflammatory conditions found in arthritis are characterized by marked increases in all three of these parameters.

Although there have been no large-scale clinical trials of boswellic acids in the United States, individual physicians and veterinarians offer a wealth of anecdotal evidence.
Here are just a few comments:
Dr. E. W. McDonagh of Kansas City reports success with 350 patients suffering from a variety of advanced muscular and skeletal conditions that conventional treatments had failed to help. “Many were taking multiple prescription and non-prescription medications and had developed side effects from them,” McDonagh says. “Once taking boswellia as prescribed, pain significantly reduced (or even vanished) in two to four weeks. All patients were able to eliminate or significantly reduce the doses of other medications.”

From Abilene, Joe B. Alexander, MD, reports “fantastic results” among 20 patients. One 56 year-old woman with severe arthritis who had previously tried many medications termed boswellia “the best of anything.”
There are more, many more raves, including those from physicians to our family pets. I. L. Jacques, DVM, of Seattle reports considerable improvement among both cats and dogs suffering from arthritis, while Patrick Moloney, DVM, of Louisville finds that boswellia improves the condition of arthritic horses.

And, according to the New Natural Healing Encyclopedia, (Nutriscience Publishers, Pascataway, NJ, 1996), one of the most remarkable qualities of boswellic acids is their ability to do all this with a total absence of side effects.

Devil’s Claw,
An Important Import From South Africa

Formally known as Harpagophytum procumbens, devil’s claw is also called grapple plant or wood spider, names that present a graphic picture of how the plant got its peculiar name.

Native South Africans used devil’s claw to reduce pain and fever. Early European travelers brought the tuberous rooted plant back to their various countries where it soon became a popular-and effective-treatment for arthritis. How early herbalists made the leap from fever to arthritis is not known but it may be because devil’s claw has such a wide range of action.

Dr. James F. Balch in his book Prescription for Natural Healing (Avery books, Penguin Putnam, Inc., New York, NY, 2000) credits devil’s claw for being “good for back pain, arthritis, rheumatism, diabetes, allergies, liver, gallbladder and kidney disorders, arteriosclerosis, lumbago, gout, and menopausal symptoms.”

In modern Europe, devil’s claw is often the drug of choice for all types of joint pain including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout.

Most of the evidence is anecdotal, however one double blind study in France followed 89 patients with rheumatoid arthritis for a period of two months. The group given devil’s claw showed a “significant decrease in pain intensity and improved mobility.” (Lecomte, et al. “Harpagophytum dans l’arthrose: Etude en double insu contre placebo,” Le Magazine, 15:27-30, 1992).

Another European study, this one in the United Kingdom, demonstrated that devil’s claw appears to be “quite safe, with no evidence of toxicity at doses many times higher than recommended.” (ESCOP monograph. Fascicule 3: Harpagophyti radix (devil’s claw). Exeter, UK; European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy).

Shark Cartilage Takes the “Bite” Out of Arthritis

Shark cartilage hit the news when Mike Wallace of Sixty Minutes
traveled to Cuba to follow the progress of cancer patients (considered to be
terminally ill) who had consented to participate in a clinical trial using shark cartilage. The results were so dramatic, previously bedridden patients challenging Wallace to a race around the track on an athletic field, that shark cartilage became what amounts to a household word. Cancer researchers began to notice that patients who also had arthritis showed marked improvement of arthritis symptoms during treatment with shark cartilage. The folks at Holistic-Online list two of the several trials designed specifically for arthritis: In the first, 28 patients received cartilage injections. Following three to eight weeks of injections 19 patients reported “excellent” improvement, six rated their improvement as “good,” and three did not respond to the treatment.

In a larger scale study 147 patients were given either cartilage extract or a placebo. The group on the placebo were encouraged to use various medications when their pain flared up. A year later the cartilage group reported a drop of 85 percent in pain scores, compared to a five percent drop in the placebo group. The cartilage group also had less deterioration of the affected joints and less lost time from work. The dosage used for this trial was one gram (1,000 mg.) of shark cartilage for every 15 pounds of body weight, dropping to one gram of cartilage for every 40 pounds of body weight as soon as relief was noticed.

My favorite clinical trial was conducted at a medical school in Florida.

Patients reported dramatic improvement, but the “powers that be” criticized the test because results were based on subjective patient response. They implied that the patients could just be “good actors.”

The researchers said nothing. They merely ran the trial again; with two changes. This time the patients were arthritic dogs who were not, presumably, “good actors,” and evaluations were based on objective criteria like the ability to run and jump over obstacles. The mobility of the arthritic dogs improved an average of 75 percent. The value of shark cartilage in treating cancer arises from its anti-angiogenesis factors. Tumors must build a blood supply in order to grow and shark cartilage inhibits the formation of new blood vessels thereby effectively cutting the tumor off from the nutrients it needs to progress. Because of this, pregnant women, or those recovering from heart attacks or surgery should not take high-dose shark cartilage. In low doses the anti-angiogenesis effect does not apply.

MSM-How James Coburn Cured His Rheumatoid Arthritis

Actor James Coburn appeared on Good Morning America on April 27th, 1999 to tell the world that after years of trying everything modern medicine had to offer for his crippling rheumatoid arthritis he tried MSM. Within three days his pain was gone and he had mobility in his joints for the first time in years. He shared the news with actor Robert Vaughn who had been unable to raise his arms above his head and MSM worked for him, too. Vaughn and Coburn told others who responded with similar results. Methylsulfonyl-
methane, MSM for short, is a naturally occurring source of bioactive sulfur. Sulfur, although plentiful in nature, is fragile and is destroyed by cleaning, processing, and cooking. It is difficult to obtain sufficient amounts of this vital nutrient and those who lack it are much more prone to debilitating degenerative diseases including most forms of arthritis.

According to research chemist Robert J. Herschler, the primary proponent of MSM, it “is shy, evasive, and escape-prone. While not a problem within the marine life food chain, there is a problem in the terrestrial environment. While present when food is very fresh, it can be driven out of any food by even moderate processing, i.e. cutting, drying, cooking.

People, generally speaking, will be sulfur-deficient unless they eat fish and meat raw and their vegetables unwashed and uncooked.”

Concentrations of MSM in the body also decline with aging and may be, in part, responsible for many of the symptoms of aging, including tissue and organ malfunction, fatigue, and increased susceptibility to disease.

Dr. Stanley Jacob of the Oregon Health Sciences University teamed up with chemist Robert Herschler to conduct extensive laboratory and clinical tests and reported amazing health benefits for a wide variety of health problems. According to Dr. James F. Balch MSM helps detoxify the body on a cellular level, nourishes hair, skin, and nails, relieves pain and inflammation, reduces allergy problems, and promotes gastrointestinal health. Have you had your MSM today?

No Supplement, No Matter How Miraculous, Works Alone

Whenever you seek to correct a deficiency (which is essentially what supplementation is intended to do) it is important to remember that supplements work synergistically. This is why taking a single substance may not be effective.

To illustrate-in the case of vitamins each single nutrient requires the presence of others in order to be absorbed or assimilated. Vitamin A, for example, requires the presence of the B vitamin choline, essential fatty acids, zinc, and vitamins C, D, and E.

The same is true of the various nutrients listed above. The action of MSM is enhanced by the presence of adequate vitamin C, which is also a prime requirement for the formation of cartilage no matter how much glucosamine is present.

Other nutrients have a direct effect on the repair of arthritic joints. Copper is an important cofactor in the strengthening and repair of connective tissue (which includes cartilage) and bone. Manganese, in minute quantities, is needed for the formation of cartilage and synovial fluid (the lubricating oil inside the joints). The mineral zinc not only supports immune system function it is an absolute requirement for protein synthesis and collagen formation. Collagen, of course, is the basic building block of cartilage.

It’s always wise to check with your doctor before beginning any new
regimen. Make sure you get all the primary and support nutrients to help you begin a new life without the pain and discomfort of arthritis.

Chart:

Knee Pain (on a scale of 1-10)

Knee Swelling (on a scale of 1-10)

Clinical Improvement

Miscellaneous