 BY DR. GREG FORS, - BOARD CERTIFIED NEUROLOGIST
A
major factor in the formation of chronic inflammation in your patients’
tissues is the presence of free radicals in greater abundance than their
ability to remove them. This imbalanced condition is known as oxidative
stress. The presence of oxidative stress in your patients’ myofascial
tissues will automatically create an inflammatory response in their
muscles and joints. This inflammatory response will then cause the
release of more free radicals in the effected tissues creating greater
oxidative stress, causing an increased inflammatory response. As you can
see this forms a vicious cycle, but worse yet, this cycle can accelerate
creating what is known as a feed-forward cycle, making symptoms
progressive with eventual tissue degeneration.
Here is the crucial fact to understand about chronic muscle and joint
pain problems, whether secondary to acute or repetitive stress; they
develop primarily from improperly managed inflammation and oxidative
stress in your patients’ tissues. In chronic muscle and joint disorders,
the presence of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress in the
myofascial tissues are as inseparable as ‘love and marriage’; you cannot
have one without the other. Therefore, to correctly heal chronic muscle
and joint problems, you must learn how to manage the metabolic factors
of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Luckily, there are herbal
and nutritional supplements that can assist you in naturally managing
these metabolic factors in your chronic pain patients.
Today, almost everyone is aware of antioxidant supplements such as
vitamin A, C, E, beta-carotenes, bioflavonoids as well as other
lesser-known phyto-nutrients. In addition, certain dietary minerals,
such as selenium and zinc, are utilized by tissues to produce endogenous
antioxidants. Even though many of your patients take antioxidants, many
do not realize exactly why they are taking them. Anti-oxidant
supplementation is helpful in neutralizing free radicals in myofascial
tissues reducing the presence of systemic inflammation. Besides these
nutrients that help to manage your patients oxidative stress, and
subsequently reduce chronic inflammation, there are botanicals available
very specific for treating chronic Inflammation.
Botanical Anti-Oxidants and Anti-Inflammatorys
Chinese and Ayurvedic practitioners have relied on ginger roots
anti-inflammatory properties for at least 3,000 years in the treatment
inflammatory joint diseases, such as arthritis and rheumatism. Ginger
root is an excellent anti-oxidant helping to scavenge free radicals from
multiple sources including drugs and environmental toxins. A 2005
article published in the Journal of Medical Food the authors reviewed
the past 25 years of research on ginger’s anti-inflammatory properties.
Multiple research studies outlined in the review established that ginger
helped to manage multiple biochemical pathways activated in chronic
inflammation without blocking enzymes vital for maintaining healthy
tissues.(1)
What is exciting about standardized extracts of Ginger root is that it
contains (6)-shogaol, besides its other active substances such as the
gingerols. What is special about (6)-shogaol is that research has shown
it to reduce substance P in the spinal cords of rats.(2) This mechanism
of action may explain why standardized extracts of powdered ginger have
been found to be effective in chronic myofascial pain disorders and
fibromyalgia syndrome. Much of the research on standardized Ginger root
extracts for chronic pain disorders utilized anywhere from 1000 mg to
4000 mg per day. Based on my review of the research and my own clinical
experience I find that best results are found with utilizing products
that contain as much as 300 to 500 mg of standardized ginger root
extract per tablet or capsule. In addition, the ginger root label must
state that is standardized to at least 5% gingerols and shogaols.
As powerful as Ginger extract is, recent studies have shown extracts of
Turmeric root, also referred to as Curcumin, to be the most powerful
natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent available. Because
Curcumin extract is so clinically impressive, I always combine the herb
with Ginger root. For botanical formulations to reduce chronic
inflammation, the Curcumin root extract must be standardized to 95%
Curcuminoids. An ideal product would be the formulation I
created for BIOSPEC Nutritionals called Inflam-RX.
Inflam RX contains a guaranteed concentration of 500 mg of the
standardized ginger root extract and 300 mg of standardized Curcumin
root extract. With this concentrated dosage per tablet, I would suggest
starting your patient out at one tablet twice a day and increasing the
dose over the next couple of days to two tablets twice a day, for a
total of at least 2000 mg of standardized Ginger root extract and 1200
mg of standardized Curcumin root extract. If your patient’s inflammation
and pain is not fully controlled, you may try increasing the dose to two
tablets three times a day and even up to two tablets four times a day.
At the tablet strength described, this would give you a daily dose of
4000 mg of standardized Ginger root extract and 2000 mg of standardized
Curcumin root extract, as found in the research.
In one study, 100% of the muscle pain patients and 75% of the arthritis
patients got pain relief from their Ginger root extract. In this study,
many patients took 3000 mg to 4000 mg a day to achieve this reduction in
inflammation and pain.(3) In one study on Curcumin root individuals were
supplemented as much as 8000 mg per day without any side effects.(4)
Usually within six weeks of taking this concentrated dosage of Ginger
and Curcumin root extracts, you can lower the dosage to the lowest
effect amount needed. This approach works extremely well, especially if
you utilize a complete program as described in my book Why We Hurt: a
healthy Mediterranean-like diet, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium malate
with B vitamins, vitamin D and of course
Inflam-RX.
BIOSPEC offers you quality nutraceuticals to
address these primary factors of chronic inflammation. To review the
comprehensive Protocols for chronic inflammation and other disorders
click on the BIOSPEC Protocols link above. To receive a catalog
describing these quality products click on the PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS
Contact link above and fill out a request form. For detailed
descriptions of these products and other quality BIOSPEC Nutritional
products click on the BIOSPEC Products link above.
Copyrighted 2007 by Dr. Greg Fors-Article or portions
of this article cannot be used without the authors permission .
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