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Cartilage tissue is a type of connective tissue that literally forms the biological glue and
twine that holds your body together and forms the cushions that keep your bones from
grinding against each other. Even your nose is made largely of cartilage. It is found in
almost all joints including the knee, hip, elbows, and shoulders. Consider a natural product
called Joint Power Rx with has several nutrients that protect and support healthy cartilage
tissue.
Weight loss to heal knee cartilage
Obesity is strongly associated with an increased risk of rapid loss of cushioning cartilage in
the knee in people at risk for osteoarthritis or with early signs of the disease. Losing a
large amount of weight slows the loss of knee cartilage in obese people. Obesity is a
major risk factor for knee osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease that often leads to
joint replacement surgery.
Composition of articular cartilage
This consists of a sparsely distributed population of highly specialized cells called
chondrocytes that are embedded within a matrix and provide articular cartilage with
remarkable mechanical properties. Chondrocytes form the tissue matrix macromolecular
framework from three classes of molecules: collagens, proteoglycans, and noncollagenous
proteins.
Throughout life, articular cartilage undergoes internal remodeling as the cells replace
matrix macromolecules lost through degradation. Aging decreases the ability of
chondrocytes to maintain and restore articular cartilage and thereby increases the risk of
degeneration of the articular cartilage surface. Progressive degeneration of articular
cartilage leads to joint pain and dysfunction that is clinically identified as osteoarthritis.
J Agric Food Chem. 2012. Effect of the novel low molecular weight hydrolyzed chicken
sternal cartilage extract, BioCell Collagen, on improving osteoarthritis-related symptoms: a
randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
What is connective tissue?
You can visualize connective tissue as somewhat similar to Jell-O, but more dense. Our organs
and bones are held together by special cells, fibers and ground substance, together called
connective tissue. Skin is mostly connective tissue. If you stretch your imagination and think of
your body as a bowl of Jell-O containing various fruit pieces such as grapes, pears, peaches, and
bananas, then the Jell-O would be connective tissue while the fruit pieces would be organs.
Connective tissues hold everything in place. Connective tissue can be condensed and made
harder in a variety of ways leading to ligaments, tendons, cartilage, and even the cornea of the
eye.
What is connective tissue made of?
There are three major components to connective tissue.
1) Cells that are responsible for forming fibers and proteoglycans. Three major types of cells
include fibroblasts (mostly in skin), chondrocytes (mostly in cartilage), and osteoblasts (mostly in
bone). Once the fibers and proteoglycans are made in chondrocytes, they are taken outside of the
cells to form part of the ground substance. The ground substance is also called the matrix.
Cartilage is a padding that lines the ends of bones that form joints. For instance, the bottom tip of
the femur (thighbone) has cartilage that forms a joint with the top part of the tibial bone in the leg,
which also is made of cartilage, thus forming the knee joint. Thus, every time you take a step, the
cartilage absorbs the pressure exerted on the knee joint. The parts of cartilage that have the ability
to absorb this pressure are the fibers and proteoglycans.
The many biochemical and metabolic abnormalities that can occur in cartilage tissue with
osteoarthritis, may well explain why numerous nutritional approaches need to be addressed.
Although glucosamine is an important nutrient, we shouldnt think that it could solve all the
problems of a complex tissue, as is cartilage. Proper cartilage nutrition would consist of a cocktail
of numerous nutrients that, when combined, create synergistic healing.
How are nutrients supplied to cartilage? What kind of food or diet help?
Normal adult cartilage tissue does not contain any nerves or blood supply. This is an important
distinction to be made compared to other human tissues. The source of nutrients for cartilage
comes from synovial fluid (see Diagram 2) that bathes the surrounding joint. This fluid consists of
some filtrates of blood plasma, proteoglycans and proteins from specific synovial cells. Synovial
fluid has two important functions. First, it serves to lubricate cartilage as they slide over each other
during movement. Second, it supplies the nutrients, and removes the waste products from the cells
within cartilage. These cells, called chondrocytes, have no direct blood supply. Because cartilage
tissue exchanges nutrients and waste by-products by passive diffusion, joint movement (i.e.
physical activity) is essential for the maintenance of normal articular cartilage. Smoking interferes
with joint injury repair since cigarette toxins interfere with cartilage cell growth.
Starting with studies in mice, researchers found that animals that ate a diet high in the
sulforaphane found in broccoli had significantly less cartilage damage and signs of osteoarthritis
compared to mice who did not consume sulforaphane. The team then moved to human and cow
cartilage cells, and found that the sulforaphane was equally effective in protecting these cells from
damage.
dermatitis, keloid formation, and traumatic tearing may occur after piercing of the earlobe. "High"
ear piercing through the ear cartilage is associated with more serious infections and disfigurement.
Questions
Q. I have recently been experiencing clicking (crepitus) and pain in my left knee and pain,
especially when I descend a flight of stairs. I read Dr. Theodosakis' book, The Arthritis Cure
(revised edition) and noted with great concern that on p. 43, he indicated that NO is involved in
early cartilage cell death, which glucosamine can counteract. Since I take 2,000 mg of l-arginine
t.i.d. to regulate blood pressure, improve memory, enhance sexual performance, I am worried that
I am harming myself instead of helping myself with respect to l-arginine supplementation. I am also
taking 500 mg of glucosamine t.i.d. and 400 mg of chondroitin t.i.d. for the knee. Your website
discusses l-arginine for several of the same reasons that I am taking it, and I would like to know if
you are aware of the relationship between NO and its effect on cartilage. Also, do you have any
comment on Dr. Theosodakis' recommendation that people with osteoarthritis dose themselves
with avocado soybean unsaponfiables (ASU), as he discusses in his book?
A. We have not come across any studies that mention arginine use leading to cartilage damage.
Also, we have not seen any studies of any length that say avocado soybean oil should be used by
those with arthritis.
Q. A number of supplement suppliers are emphasizing the superiority of chondroitin from shark
cartilage versus bovine sources due to the risk of mad cow disease. Do you have any preference
yourself?
A. To the best of my knowledge, there does not seem to be a risk for mad cow disease regarding
the use of chondroitin from bovine cartilage. Since there have not been any studies comparing
bovine cartilage chondroitin versus chondroitin from shark cartilage, it is not possible to say with
certainty which source is better.
Are there particular foods or nutrients or supplements that are effective in aiding healing and repair
/ rebuilding of ligaments and tendons. I ask this as a Physical Therapist (intern) who's particularly
interested in Sports medicine and sports injuries. I'm aware of glucosamine and chondroitn and
MSM for healing of cartilage in joint structures, but are there nutrients that enhance healing of
tendons and ligaments? Would glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM also play a role in healing of
these structures?
I am not sure yet.
Is there anything for dissolving or digesting floating cartilage in the knee? Are there any studies?
Maybe something like serrapeptase, digestive enzymes, anything.
Not that I am aware of.