Q. What is Glucosamine?
A. It is one of several fundamental parts that make up your connective tissue. It's a sugar molecule performing several functions, in partnership, within a family of nutrients maintaining good health to assist you in joint and muscle pain relief.
Q. What are the partners, or members of the just mentioned, that Glucosamine works with?
A. These are the major partners that Glucosamine works with and that work with it: Chondroitin, MSM, Hyaluronic Acid (HA), and Collagen, and they all rely on a dependable amount of oxygen for maximum performance. Using any one alone gives moderate to good results, but combined together, much much more is accomplished with a broader range of benefits. So why not have great results?
Q. What is connective tissue?
A. It is the material in your body that holds you together. It's the material that ties cells together, continually inter-linking everything to keep your body all in one piece. You are looking at – bone, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, skin, joint fluids, mucous membranes, and intestinal lining, and more.
Q. Do I need Glucosamine?
A.Yes and No. This nutrient is naturally produced in your body as a part of its everyday chemical operations. Your body produces less of it in later years, which tends to set the stage for deteriorating conditions in connective tissue. Sufficient amounts of it in the body supports healthy joints and tissue, but your body produces less of it as you age, offsetting health balance.
As early as your mid-thirties you may want to add natural supplements to your diet to avoid or improve any deteriorating conditions. Many people look to it as a joint and muscle pain killer, and to help maintain a higher level of joint and muscle health.
Q. Will Glucosamine stop pain in my joints?
A. No, not in and of itself. It is not a pain killer, nor does it suppress pain. It is an important element of several elements in joint and muscle health. If it is in short supply in your body, it has a major impact on the performance of the other elements involved in joint and muscle health. Restoring its supply to its proper level of performance affects the other elements it works with and health of the tissues improve, having an impact on reducing inflammation, the cause of pain. This is how it can help "stop" pain. It can take three to 12 months to see most of Glucosamine's benefits.
Q. What is Inflammation?
A. Inflammation is starvation of oxygen in joint, muscle, and connective tissue. Free radicals, imbalanced molecules, attack the cells in your body, destroying some, damaging many. Antioxidants counteract free radicals. Oxygen is one of your most powerful antioxidants (even though it performs a few oxidant function within your body). When Oxygen is in short supply build up of free radicals increase, damaging massive numbers of cells.
Tissue becomes toxic with damaged cell build up and other toxins oxygen would normally destroy. Swelling follows, restricting blood flow restricting oxygen supply, and compounding the pain condition. Here lies the source of your pain. This is why doctors prescribe NSAIDs acting not only as pain killers, but to reduce inflammation.
Q. What are NSAIDs?
A. NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are anti-inflammatory pain reducing drugs, prescription or over the counter drugs, used for pain relief. Common NSAIDs are: Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Celebrex, Aleve, and others.
Q. Can NSAIDs be used with Glucosamine?
A. Yes. If doctors use this joint nutrient as a part of their arthritis and joint therapy, they often prescribe the NSAID at the beginning of the therapy along with Glucosamine, or in combination with Chondroitin, knowing that the NSAID will act quickly for pain relief and in a few short weeks becomes ineffective. They also know that the Glucosamine can start slow, taking affect in a few short weeks, about the time the NSAIDs taper off.
This therapy can be worked this way because Glucosamine has no side effects that can interact or compound the side effects brought on by the drugs. The NSAID prescriptions can interfere with healing, so may be used initially and only in times of excessive pain for short periods (a few weeks).
Q. What is Arthritis?
A. Arthritis is a group of conditions involving damage to the joints of the body. The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease) is a result of trauma to the joint, infection of the joint, or age.
The second most common form is Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), involving a broader range of connective tissues. The medical profession believes there is no cure for arthritis, so their efforts are spent on symptoms treatments.
Q. What is Osteoarthritis?
A. Osteoarthritis is an inflammation condition in joints, caused by abnormal wear of the cartilage that covers and acts as a cushion inside joints. Also involved is destruction or decrease of lubricating fluids in the affected joints.
As the bone surfaces become less protected by cartilage, the patient experiences pain upon weight bearing, and when walking or standing. Due to a tendency to avoid pain, decreased movement causes regional muscles to atrophy, and ligaments may become more lax and weaker.
Q. What is Rheumatoid arthritis?
A. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack joints and other connective tissue. Its a disabling and painful condition. RA is a systemic disease, often affecting tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and muscles. Glucosamine, as one of the main block builders in joints and muscles, is a good natural supplement to add to the diet for RA.
Q. Do NSAID drugs heal Arthritis?
A. No. They are designed to reduce pain, fever and inflammation. They only treat a symptom of arthritis — that being arthritis pain.
Q. Does Glucosamine affect diabetics?
A. It has not shown any negative impact to diabetics. As a sugar molecule it raises this question, but two to three doses of it has much less sugar than found in the normal diabetic diet, having little to no effect on sugar concerns.
Q. Does Glucosamine supplement impact cholesterol levels?
A. As a supplement it does not influence blood levels of cholesterol or triglycerides to any significant degree to create any concern.
Q. Is Glucosamine safe?
A. Through many studies and research it has been found very safe. The only thing of concern would then be the quality of the supplement you choose – consuming a large amount at one time may prove very uncomfortable or harmful.
Q. Does Glucosamine affect everyone the same?
A. Like most anything else, No. You are as different from someone else as your fingerprints. Your body is similar but still not the same. Your diet may be the same, but still different. And more than likely your health is not in the same place as everyone else. You may be on medications while someone else is not. You may have great success with it , or poor success with it. You can only find out by using is for a not less than three month period – time necessary, in most cases, to give your body time to make changes that bring about improvement. Three to 11 months is a good test time for Glucosamine.
Q. Glucosamine side effects?
A. Your body creates Glucosamine, so you may think it shouldn't be a problem. There a good chance you are right, but man has a habit of throwing a monkey wrench in Mother Nature's way of doing things.
Glucosamine supplements are usually taken from animals, commonly sea animals such as crab, lobster, and shrimp. If you have allergic reactions to these things you may have a concern. Some people will and some won't have any problem even with such allergies. You may want to try very small amounts and slowly build up to a comfortable dosage. Let your body tell you what will work for you.
Medline Plus reports: “Glucosamine sulfate can cause some mild side effects including nausea, heartburn, diarrhea, and constipation”.
Not to be disputing this, but if you have heartburn problems there is a multitude of things that give you heartburn. Solving this problem may be as simple as taking it at the beginning of a meal. The same for a nausea problem. Go with medications and “enjoy” these problems “Big Time”. Eating chocolate can give you diarrhea or constipation, and you most likely work with that, right?
They also report: “Uncommon side effects are drowsiness, skin reactions, and headache.” Amazingly enough, likely all you need to do is drink generous amounts of water throughout the day and totally avoid such problems.Ultimately, work with your body and let it tell you what works for you.
Q. Where is a good source of a quality Glucosamine?
A. Here
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