John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

Joints are any part of the body where two or more bones meet. The main types of joints are the fibrous joints such as tooth sockets, those solely of cartilage such as vertebrae discs, and thirdly the mobile synovial joints such as knees and shoulders.

The most common problems that affect joints are accidental damage to mobile joints, all forms of arthritis and specific problems with joint structures such as bursitis and tendonitis.

Our knees and shoulders are incredibly complex synovial joints. Have a look at an anatomical image of a shoulder joint and you will see what I mean. There are tendons attached to bones, tendon sheaths to allow tendon movement, joint cavities with synovial fluid, little bags of lubricant called bursars and, of course, the cartilage covering the bones. All of these structures can cause problems including arthritis, bursitis and tendonitis.

Osteoarthritis is the progressive loss of the cartilage that covers the ends of bones. The pain is as much caused by inflammation as the actual loss of cartilage. While there is obviously some wear and tear aspect to the disease the latest research suggests this is a true disease process rather than just accumulated wear.

Research in the last decade by K. Yudoh et al (2005) and C. Ziskoven et al (2010) indicates the real cause may oxidative stress, which then triggers inflammation. The research concludes that free radicals damage the chondrocyte cells that make and support cartilage.

When these cells are damaged and die it results in the erosion of cartilage. In other words, osteoarthritis is much more like iron rusting away in the salt air.

My approach to osteoarthritis is now based on this latest research and my own observations over many years. I take a '3 legged stool” approach.

Firstly, we add a range of antioxidants to combat the free radicals attacking joint cells.

Secondly, we add a range of anti-inflammatory compounds including Omega 3 and a number of plant based anti-inflammatory compounds.

Thirdly, we add specific amounts of joint supporting compounds such as Glucosamine and MSM.

It is very important to get personalised and monitored advice because different joints respond to different doses of different compounds and, of course, everyone is different.

Give me a call if you need help. To join my weekly newsletter go to www.johnarts.co.nz and visit www.abundant.co.nz

John Arts is the founder of Abundant Health. Call him on 5789051 or 0800 423 559.