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Bending the Rules

November 21, 2011 By Sandy Almendarez Comments

Posted in Articles, Bone/Joint Health, Antioxidants, Astaxanthin, Baby Boomers, BioAstin, Botanicals, Carotenoids, Chondroitin, Clinical Research, Cyanotech, Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA), Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA), Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), Fish Oil, Glucosamine, InterHealth Nutraceuticals, Joint Health, Krill, Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (LC-PUFAs), Neptune Krill Oil (NKO), Omega-3s, Osteoarthritis, Pycnogenol, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sports Nutrition, UC-II

Highlighted Ingredients for Joint Health

Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, arguably the best-known joint health ingredients, have scientific backing, but conflicting study results have shed a questionable light on their efficacy.
Studies on marine-based omega-3s, including fish and krill oils, have revealed the EPA and DHA combo cools inflammation for joint-disease patients.
Botanicals including Scutellaria baicalensis, Acacai catechu and French maritime pine bark (Pinus pinaster as Pycnogenol) can reduce inflammation and lead to pain-free movement.

As well studied as the human body is, scientists have not come to a general decision on the number of joints in the body. Even with a simple definition—a joint is the location where two or more bones make contact—no definitive answer has been determined. Because skull bones knit together in a way that makes them permanently fused, many view them as a single unit; however, others consider them joints. Take those conjunctions, plus the fact that the number of bones in a body changes with age as they fuse together, and the total number of joints in the average human is elusive.

A good guess is from the mid-200s to mid-300s, all working together with bones and muscles to allow us to move and function in everyday activities from finding a more comfortable sleeping position and playing Frisbee with the dog. However, with so many joints fulfilling life’s expectations, chances are high they will bring pain to a person a few times in the lifespan.

All types of connections can be damaged with inflammation, mostly due to a form of arthritis. Joint damage caused by physical trauma may not initially be arthritis, but this type of injury may develop into the disease. Arthritis involves the breakdown of cartilage; without the normal amount of cartilage, bones rub together, causing pain, swelling and stiffness.

Of the 100 types of arthritis, osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common, but gout and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are other common forms. OA is caused by “wear and tear” on a joint, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). After cartilage breaks down, bony spurs or extra bone may form around the joint, and the ligaments and muscles around the joint become weaker and stiffer. Often, the cause of OA is unknown, but it is related to aging. The symptoms of OA usually appear in middle age, and almost everyone has some symptoms by age 70. Before age 55, OA occurs equally in men and women. After age 55, it is more common in women.

RA is an autoimmune disease, which means the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue, and it can occur at any age, but is more common in middle age. RA usually affects joints on both sides of the body equally. Wrists, fingers, knees, feet and ankles are the most commonly affected.