There are many types of arthritis. The most common is osteoarthritis or degenerative arthritis or, quite simply, wear and tear arthritis. Patients take chelation as it appears to break down some of the abnormal calcium deposits and joint reconstructive therapy aka Prolotherapy to help strengthen the supporting ligaments, but equally important is the nutritional support to the joints and bones.
Glucosamine
One of the more important players here. If you were to take cartilage and boiled in acid till it dissolved and then analyze what is in the cartilage, the answer would be glucosamine. Hence, we use a lot of glucosamine in patients with degenerative joints as it is that essential substance needed to provide the joint so that it might heal itself. There have been several double blind studies done showing that this effective even when compared to drugs like ibuprofen. In short term, (one month) ibuprofen wins; but in the long term (three months), glucosamine seems to work better. So, don’t get frustrated if after a week you are not improved because we are in for the long haul.
MPS
A Supplement whose name is translated as MucoPolySaccharides. This contain a high level on chondroitin sulfate, another joint building block.
SAM-GLA
Another essential substance except its action is to control inflammation. There are a series of tissue hormones called prostaglandins that control inflammation at the tissue level. These hormones arise from fat so the type of dietary fat that you consume controls to a large extent how the body deals with an inflammatory stimulus whether it be a splinter or a runny nose or a damage artery or a bum knee.
Diets rich in animal fats contain a substance called arachadonic acid which is the precursor of the bad prostaglandins that promote inflammation. On the other hand, certain oils (primrose oil, especially) and marine oils contain certain fatty substances (GLA, DHA, and EPA, that actually reduce inflammation. Hence the balance of these chemicals is a constant push/pull toward and away from an inflammatory reaction to an outside stimulus.
SAM-GLA contains primrose oil and high EPA and DHA marine oils. The purpose of taking this in such substantial amounts (4 to 6 per day) is that it takes a lot to override the arachadonic acid from meats. Hence, using lean cuts of meats will also help reduce inflammation.
BROMELLA-Macs
An enzyme that , when taken on an empty stomach (you guess it – this is the one you take 1/2 hour before or two hours after a meal) gets absorbed and helps reduce inflammatory debris around a joint.
Trace mineral supplements such as MANGANESE (MN20) and CALCIUM (CAL MACS) are also important. Manganese helps the bones manufacture some of the ground substance or supporting proteins and polysaccharides, whereas calcium helps harden the bones. As our dietary ratio of calcium/phosphorous is very imbalanced towards phosphorous, it is important to use a soluble (calcium carbonate is not soluble in water) non-phosphorous containing form of calcium (di-calcium phosphate and bone salts contain phosphorous). Hence, CAL-MACS contains calcium citrate which meets those requirements.