Glucosamine & joint pain

Let’s face it: joint pain is uncomfortable and frustrating, especially for those who are used to living an active life. For relief from the pain, many reach for remedies like the prescription drugs in the category known as COX-2 inhibitors (Celebrex and Vioxx are famous examples), or pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol™) and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Aleve™). These drugs do offer immediate relief, but they’re hardly without problems (witness the class action suits over Vioxx). Tylenol is the number one cause of hospital admissions for liver failure. Furthermore, keep in mind that none of them address the underlying cause of the joint pain.

Long before the medical establishment decided to get on board, I was hearing about glucosamine sulphate from vets. It helps dogs- and people- with the pain and stiffness and infirmity of arthritis. Since almost all dogs eventually suffer from arthritis, and larger dogs frequently suffer with a painful joint condition called hip dysplasia, the use of glucosamine is of more than theoretical use in veterinary practice. Furthermore, there are no “placebo effects” with dogs. They don’t recover because they think they’re “supposed” to- they either feel (and act) better, or they don’t.

Glucosamine is naturally synthesized in the human body and is a basic building block of connective tissue, like the cartilage in your knee for example. While we have an ample amount of the stuff when we’re young, as we age, we lose some of it, leading to the thinning of cartilage which frequently progresses to the common condition known as osteoarthritis.

Glucosamine sulphate - and its partner chondroitin sulphate - can help, as can MSM.

Many studies have shown that glucosamine and/or chondroitin is beneficial in helping to repair damage to the joints caused by osteoarthritis. While it can’t bring cartilage back, it can prevent further loss as well as reduce symptoms of pain, swelling, and stiffness or noise in the joints. In two independent 3-year randomised, placebo-controlled studies, glucosamine sulphate was shown to slow progression of osteoarthritis symptoms. After three years, participants given the glucosamine sulphate showed no joint space narrowing whatsoever. Not only that, the glucosamine sulphate group showed a significant improvement in their WOMAC index (a standardized measure of pain) while there was a trend for worsening of pain in the placebo group.

Chondroitin sulphate is another building block of connective tissue. It actually stimulates the cartilage cells (called chondrocytes), and therefore works beautifully when paired with glucosamine to speed the regeneration and recovery of bone tissues. Well-absorbed and associated with only minor side effects, chondroitin sulphate can also decrease pain and slow the rate of cartilage loss in people with osteoarthritis. The Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (Nov. 14, 2005) reported that the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate is at least as effective as the prescription drug celecoxib (Celebrex) in treating pain caused by moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee. So for best results, use them together.

MSM (methyl-sulfonyl methane) is terrific for joint pain, largely due to its high sulphur content. (There’s a reason people all over the world flock to hot sulphur baths for pain relief!). MSM blocks the transmission of impulses in nerve fibres that carry pain signals. Studies in laboratory animals show that in those whose diet included MSM, there was less degenerative change of the articular joint in comparison to the control group. In the June 2004 issue of the journal Clinical Drug Investigations, scientists reported that, although individually glucosamine and MSM did improve pain and swelling in arthritic joints, the combination of the two was more effective than the single nutrients in reducing symptoms and improving the function of joints.

Arthritis is the most common form of disability and the prevalence of joint pain is likely to increase as the baby boomer generation ages. Natural remedies like glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM can help empower us to take charge of our health and can significantly contribute to our well-being. Best of all they do so without any serious side effects.

Furthermore, that’s exactly what “natural cures” should be all about!

About to have your annual flu shot?

Do You Know What's Inside a Flu Shot?
"Should I get a flu shot?"
My answer is an unequivocal no. I never advocate getting a flu shot. Based on everything that I know about flu shots, I think it's pretty clear that their main effect is to tax and possibly weaken one's immune system.


There are a number of rationales why I feel that flu shots should be averted, But here's the most obvious reason: One in a million people who receive the flu shot advances a neurological disease called Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
Guillain-Barré syndrome tends to develop without awareness, and is marked by extreme muscle debility and other symptoms related to nerve dysfunction. ,Furthermore, let's not miss an obvious point: if one in a million people who get the flu shot can develop a devastating neurological condition, how many others who get the flu shot suffer from a number of uncomfortable symptoms that are never properly or accurately diagnosed? It's just not natural to think that the ingredients in a flu shot can cause severe neurological damage in a small percentage of the people while leaving everyone else completely uninjured.

The best defence against the flu and the common cold is to live healthfully every day. Furthermore, if we do develop the flu or a cold, if we give our bodies time to rest and heal, we can cleanse ourselves of our weakest cells.
Are Flu Vaccines Pointless?


Let's see if Dr. Tom Jefferson, Cochrane Vaccines Field, Rome, Italy, can't help us answer that important question.
In his paper "Influenza vaccination: policy versus evidence" Jefferson concluded that influenza vaccination programs, which cost nations hundreds of millions of dollars every year, could be a waste of time and money.
Jefferson examined all the research previously published in the world on the effects of inactivated vaccines (vaccines with dead viruses).
Furthermore, what did Dr. Jefferson learn?
Quite simply...
In children under 2 years inactivated vaccines had the same field efficacy as placebo, and in healthy people under 65 vaccination did not affect hospital stay, time off work, or death from influenza and its complications.
You can be sure these findings cemented in concrete my annual decision to avoid a flu shot!
I URGE parents whose doctors are telling them their babies or children need a flu shot to consider Jefferson's eye-opening conclusions.

Things you were not told regarding statins

Considering that tens of millions of individuals now take statins to lower cholesterol, the following headline was conspicuously missing from the major media this month: “Statins Found to Turn On Gene that Causes Muscle Damage.” It’s now a fact of science; a new study shows that taking statins destroys your muscle to a greater or lesser degree. Furthermore, let’s not forget that the heart is a muscle. Place this study compared to another rather interesting recent finding: the fitter you are the longer you will live – and the two just don’t add up. How can you destroy muscle and be more fit? You can’t. Sure you can drug your cholesterol number lower, but will you be healthier, fit, and live longer?
In the new study researchers found that statins activate a gene signal in muscles called atrogen-1. When this gene activates it targets key muscle proteins for destruction. The activation of this gene drives the process of muscle atrophy and muscle wasting. It is induced in cardiac muscle in failing hearts. Why on earth would any person want this gene activated by a drug? The researchers tested statin-taking humans who were complaining of severe muscle pain. Muscle biopsy found that the atrogen-1 gene was activated, in comparison to people with severe muscle pain not on statins and controls. They went on to show through various experiments that statins activate the gene. This is extremely bad news for any person taking a statin..

Do you know about the dangers of Viagra?

Have you read that you can now purchase viagra directly online
no prescription no mention of the Horrendous potential side effects.

(Heres a great article from the health ranger)


Ever wonder how the drug companies REALLY want to sell pharmaceuticals? Here's the answer: Through vending machines! Bypass the doctors, advertise drugs directly to consumers, and get them to insert their credit cards into drug-dispensing machines that pretend to "diagnose" diseases by asking people to take an instant survey.Do you sometimes feel like life is too much to handle? Do you ever start projects but fail to finish them? Have you ever felt sad about something? If so, you may be suffering from a brain chemistry disorder that requires pharmaceutical treatment! Here, just insert your credit card, push the "BrainZac" button, and this machine will issue you a diagnosis AND deliver your "treatment."The small print, of course, says you'll be billed $12 per pill, and dispensed 100 pills for a total of $1200 dollars, 90% of which will be billed to the federal government and paid by taxpayers.What a scam, huh?

This is where the industry is headed. CVS Pharmacies already have in-house clinics that can diagnose diseases and prescribe drugs for them all in the same minute!If retail pharmacies are going to play doctor, diagnosing fictitious "diseases" and then prescribing dangerous pills to "treat" those diseases, then why do we need doctors in the loop at all? Big Pharma has figured out it would be a lot more profitable to just skip the doctors and sell drugs directly to consumers.This is why they are lobbying the FDA so strongly to move hundreds of popular prescription-only drugs to over-the-counter (OTC) status. That way, the doctors are taken completely out of the loop, and consumers can buy all these high-profit pharmaceuticals themselves, like mind slaves responding to direct-to-consumer drug advertising.The FDA recently admitted it hopes to convert 50% of blockbuster prescription drugs to OTC status. That list even includes dangerous, deadly drugs like statins and antidepressants.

Keep in mind this is all happening in a political environment where the FDA claims herbs, supplements and superfoods are so dangerous that zero health claims should be allowed by the companies selling them. But deadly prescription drugs are so safe, the FDA says, that even children should be able to walk into a Wal-Mart and buy unlimited bottles of statins and antidepressant drugs, completing the purchase through a self checkout lane that doesn't even require the oversight of a pharmacist.It's an amazing world we live in, huh? Just remember: When you someday see prescription drugs being sold in Vending machines, we predicted it first right here .