The arthritis can also be listed as a disease due to a clogged body. The term "arthroses" covers a number of joint pathologies, from the most to the least disabling. Among people over 50, these pathologies are one of the primary causes of "poor living" and represent the most disabling health problem for a large proportion of them.

It often presents itself in a silent form, objectified only by radiological signs showing that more than 50% of people over 50 years of age present real degradation of cartilage to varying degrees and this proportion increases with advancing age.

This pathology, characterized by joint inflammation and cartilage degeneration, causes symptoms such as joint stiffness in the morning, pain that increases progressively during the day and often a gradual loss of joint mobility.

This chronic, painful, deforming joint disorder, generally accompanied by inflammation, is aggravated by age, excess weight, and micro-traumas of professional or sporting origin, all of which are contributing factors. Heredity plays little or no role, which demonstrates the essential role of environmental factors.

Cartilageis a connective tissue that covers the bone ends and provides a sort of protective film for the joint. It represents the essential part of the joint since it is the one that, when it is intact, allows the bones to slide without difficulty or pain. This cartilaginous tissue has an extraordinary damping capacity with respect to mechanical constraints during movements.

Cartilage is mainly composed of water (in a proportion of 70 to 85%) retained by the fundamental substance, itself composed of proteoglycans, chondroitin sulfate and collagen fibers (type 2 and 9) constituting the framework that structures the whole. Chondrocytes, cells contained in cartilage, are relatively rare and very specific. They synthesize, resorb and maintain the balance and efficiency of cartilage tissue. These cells therefore synthesize and degrade the main components of this tissue, particularly the proteoglycans.

In order to perform their functions, chondrocytes must be regularly stimulated mechanically, but in a gentle, weighted manner.

When there is congestion or clogging of the extracellular or intracellular environment, the chondrocytes are no longer able to produce normal cartilage. They then synthesize a depleted and fragile cartilage. This leads to a progressive and global degeneration of the articular cartilage. This first cracks, then ulcerates, thins and disappears in places, leaving the bone bare, thus inducing what is called an arthritic state.

This phenomenon results in a radiologically visible pinching of the joint space. Osteoarthritis can affect any joint, but it especially affects the most active and most stressed joints: hip, knee, foot, fingers, spine.

The other components of cartilage, notably the proteoglycans, have long been referred to as "acidic mucopolysaccharides" because of their high water-holding capacity, their carbohydrate nature, and their acidic character due to their multiple negative charges. These long protein chains are composed of basic molecules containing glucosamine or galactosamine, glucuronic acid, iduronic acid and galactose.

Unfortunately, many people consider osteoarthritis to be a fatality that must be treated with aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs and other classic harmful procedures such as infiltrations, for example.

Conventional treatments for pain

The conventional treatment of choice is of course and again the use of anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, which reduces pain but has no effect on the process of joint degeneration itself.

On the contrary, in several studies, these anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to accelerate the destruction of cartilage in the joint.

Osteoarthritis evolution is not inevitable!

Indeed, it is important to never lose sight of the fact that your body has an enormous potential and power of regeneration and that, like all human tissue, articular cartilage is alive, nourished, reconstituted and regenerated every 3 months. This regeneration takes place, whatever the age of the subject, and can be stimulated by gentle techniques, such as osteopathy for example.

Moreover, if care is taken to feed and maintain the cartilage matrix, which guarantees the quality of the cartilage, osteoarthritis can be prevented and slowed down before the onset of mechanical problems and greatly improved even if the pain is already present.

To give cartilage a maximum chance to recover, it must be provided with raw material in the form of targeted nutrients through quality food supplements.

The provision of adequate nutrients can have a remarkable effect on the physiology, metabolism and composition of the cartilage matrix on which the condition of the cartilage and joints depends.

A small molecule called glucosamine

We all agree that this type of treatment does not address the root problem and that a natural solution must be found to regenerate the cartilage and thus stop or reduce the series of symptoms that accompany this degeneration.

This is precisely what glucosamine sulfate will allow. Glucosamine is a small molecule that is normally and naturally produced by the human body. Its main function is to supply and stimulate the production of the raw materials necessary for cartilage synthesis, mainly proteoglycan molecules.

It seems that as we age, the human body loses the ability to produce enough glucosamine, resulting in progressive loss and degeneration of joint cartilage and depletion of proteoglycans.

This is why it is essential to take a nutritional supplement based on stabilized natural glucosamine from a certain age.

More than 300 scientific studies and more than 20 double-blind clinical studies show without a doubt the effectiveness of this substance, which is totally free of side effects. This has been fully proven since glucosamine has been on the market of nutritional supplements in the USA for many years.

Unlike traditional anti-inflammatory drugs that only mask the symptoms and aggravate the disease, glucosamine sulfate will eliminate the cause of the disease itself and treat it in depth by rebuilding the lost cartilage.

It is important to know that in order to obtain a real reconstruction of the cartilages, it is necessary to reach the intake of 1500 mg per day in attack dose and the intake of 1000 mg daily in maintenance dose of the result.

Association of glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane

The methylsulfonylmethane or MSM is a natural nutrient composed primarily of sulfur. It is found in food, mainly in milk, but also in many fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and meat. Nevertheless, cooking methods and food preservation processes significantly reduce the levels of MSM in our food. As a result, apart from people consuming nutritional supplements containing this substance, almost everyone suffers from MSM deficiency. Unfortunately, this deficiency becomes more pronounced as we age. However, our body requires a large amount of assimilable sulfur.

Let's not forget that not only does sulfur have astonishing anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, properties that have been widely exploited by allopathy (sulfonamides), but that it is also an indispensable element in the construction and structure of cartilage, skin, nails, hair, and even enzymes, hormones and cell membranes.

The main known and recognized actions of MSM are: an anti-allergic action, an anti-parasitic action, an anti-acidity action and an anti-inflammatory action.

For many years, the regular intake of glucosamine has been one of the means used by many osteoarthritis sufferers to alleviate their health problem. Although many people are satisfied with the use of certain natural and glucosamine-based complexes, the results, which are real and documented, are not always the same from one person to another.

Another theory on the development of osteoarthritis and its resolution

Contrary to popular belief, another interesting hypothesis is that it is not advancing age that is the main cause of osteoarthritis, but rather a dysfunction of the cartilage regeneration metabolism, favored by various microtraumas resulting from the subject's lifestyle and type of life.

As explained above, chondrocytes generate the fundamental substance of cartilage, i.e. proteoglycans and collagen. In particular, type II collagen represents the true skeleton of cartilage.

In osteoarthritis pathology, the loss of proteoglycans has been found to be rapid, but reversible and quickly replaced, especially if the body is helped with glucosamine (see above).

On the other hand, the loss of collagen would be much slower, but irreversible. It is therefore the collagen that must be particularly preserved.

For reasons that are not yet well understood, whether or not accompanied by abnormal mechanical stresses on the joint (age, obesity, heredity, trauma, posture disorders, intense sports activities, professional activities, etc.), enzymatic disorders of cartilage regeneration will progressively appear and modify its structure and constitution, particularly in its collagen component.

An original and patented dietary supplement, developed by a Korean university, combines fibers from apple pectin and seaweed with glucosamine obtained from chitin, and specifically addresses the regeneration of the collagen component of cartilage.

This food supplement based on soluble dietary fibers, stimulates the functions of chondrocytes constituting the cartilage matrix and, thus, increases and improves the constituent elements of the cartilage, in particular the articular collagen of structure (type 2). Thanks to the glucosamine it contains, its regular consumption ensures a 20 to 30% increase in the production of proteoglycans, a key factor in water retention, which is essential to the functional quality of cartilage.

On the other hand, an essential feature of this product, which gives it real effectiveness where other nutritional supplements fail, lies in the fact that the fibers extracted from apple pectin and seaweed act mainly on the restoration of type II collagen, the keystone of cartilage architecture. Taking the product also reduces inflammation.

Various clinical evaluations, carried out on animals and humans, have shown an improvement in joint function and a very strong reduction in pain, even complete disappearance, after 2 to 3 months of treatment.

The radiographic image shows an improvement of the cartilage condition in 50% of the cases after 6 to 9 months of regular intake.

It is therefore a basic treatment for the genesis of cartilage, which it is useful to consume daily from the age of 50, in order to avoid the appearance of joint problems.

Avoid clogging as much as possible

If we admit that a clogging of the chondrocytes by macromolecules from the environment is at the origin of osteoarthritis, it seems logical to try to dry up the source of these macromolecules.

Tobacco, certain chemicals, insecticides and other pollutants may be involved, but the major role is likely to be played by bacterial and dietary macromolecules from the gut lumen.

An important and often spectacular benefit for patients has been noted following the application of a low-toxin diet and a rebalancing of the intestinal flora. These results are consistent with a pathology once again caused by cellular fouling and suggest that the cleaned chondrocytes are able to resorb the abnormal cartilage and replace it with normal cartilage.

From a dietary standpoint .

• Zinc can relieve stiff or sore joints.
• Eat more vitamins B6, B12, C, D, bioflavonoids, calcium and magnesium.
• Garlic, infusions of matricaria (not for more than 14 consecutive days), celery and celery seeds, asparagus, nettle and marjoram are all foods known to have calming properties.
• Eat more raw fruits and vegetables.
• Drink less alcohol and caffeinated beverages.
• Reduce your intake of added sugar and animal protein.

Natural protocol for the treatment of mild osteoarthritis

Recommended products and dosage

GLUCOSAMINE + MSM:

Starting dose for the first 2 months: 3 capsules per day with meals (morning - noon - evening).

In maintenance : 2 capsules per day with meals (morning - noon).