The human body, with its almost 400 joints, is a mobile and extremely flexible machine.
It is thanks to the joints that you can pick up a pen and write, bend down to pick up a sheet of paper from the floor, the umpteenth sheet of the day (it seems that this chap keeps dropping sheets of paper on the floor, all day long…), nod or shake your head… They are those structures, like the bones, that we take for granted until they make themselves felt. And in that case the signals are loud and clear.
Who has never woken up in the morning as stiff as a piece of wood and with the feeling of having been run over by a train? Or felt their elbow or their knees locked, or their shoulders and back “seized up”, as if they were blocked?
All this happens when, over time, the joints “wear out” and become inflamed.
Many people are convinced that joint pain is a matter that concerns “old age”, but the reality is quite different.
Today almost 5 million Italians, both men and women, report joint and muscle disorders and the age at which the joints start to make themselves felt is already just after 30 [2]!
And it is at the first sign that you have to act to stop the situation becoming chronic and difficult to manage.
Over the years, in fact, phytotherapy has increasingly taken these conditions into consideration and there are several studies that testify to the importance and effectiveness of a natural approach too.
In the next section we will look at some of them and understand how and why plant active ingredients can be useful in supporting the physiological function of the joints.
Experimental phytotherapy
Boswellia
- 2014 May. Boswellia serrata extract attenuates inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress in collagen induced arthritis. Umar S,Umar K,Sarwar AH,Khan A,Ahmad N,Ahmad S,Katiyar CK,Husain SA,Khan HA.
This study showed that the dry extract of Boswellia serrata is useful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic inflammatory disease that unfortunately leads to irreversible damage to the joints.
- Nutr J. 2016 Jan 5;15:1. doi: 10.1186/s12937-015-0115-z. Benefits of antioxidant supplements for knee osteoarthritis: rationale and reality. Grover AK, Samson SE.
In this study the researchers focused on osteoarthritis of the knee, a degenerative disease affecting the cartilage of the femur and the tibia, which gradually wears away, causing friction and pain.
Arthritis is an inflammatory process affecting the joints which mainly involves the hands and the knees. In particular the researchers wanted to test the response to particular antioxidants, including those contained in Boswellia.
At the end of the trial the researchers showed that these active ingredients proved particularly useful precisely in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee.
Devil's Claw
- Phytother Res. 2012 Jun;26(6):806-11. doi: 10.1002/ptr.3636. Epub 2011 Nov 10. Molecular targets of the antiinflammatory Harpagophytum procumbens (devil's claw): inhibition of TNF‑ and COX-2 gene expression by preventing activation of AP-1. Fiebich BL, Muñoz E, Rose T, Weiss G, McGregor GP.
In this study the researchers started from the assumption that Devil's Claw is often used in supportive treatment for inflammatory and degenerative diseases of the skeletal system.
The object of the study was to discover the mechanism of action that allows the positive response to treatment with Devil's Claw.
During the study the researchers showed that Devil's Claw extract inhibits the release of pro-inflammatory substances such as interleukin and prostaglandins. This is a possible explanation of the mechanism underlying the effectiveness of Devil's Claw against bone and joint disorders.
- J Altern Complement Med. 2006 Dec;12(10):981-93. doi: 10.1089/acm.2006.12.981. Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) as a treatment for osteoarthritis: a review of efficacy and safety Sarah Brien 1, George T Lewith, Gerry McGregor
This study analyses the role of devil's claw in the treatment of osteoarthritis.
A review of the literature on Devil's Claw and osteoarthritis from 1966 to 2006 was carried out using several research databases, monographs and citation tracking. The data emerging from the review suggest that devil's claw is effective in reducing pain, the main symptom of osteoarthritis, without adverse effects.
Ash
- Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. 2007 Jun 10;4(4):411-6. Anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities of methanolic extract of the leaves of Fraxinus floribunda Wallich. Lingadurai S, Nath LK, Kar PK, Besra SE, Joseph RV.
This study, carried out on mice, analyses the anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving activity of the extract of Ash leaves.
The results showed that the animals improved their condition after being given Ash leaves and the authors therefore conclude that this extract is useful in relieving pain in inflammatory medical conditions, such as fractures and dislocations.
- 2019 Oct 18;8(10):494. doi: 10.3390/antiox8100494. Phenolic Composition of Hydrophilic Extract of Manna from Sicilian Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl and its Reducing, Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activity in Vitro. Alessandro Attanzio, Antonella D'Anneo, Francesco Pappalardo, Francesco Paolo Bonina, Maria Antonia Livrea, Mario Allegra, Luisa Tesoriere
This study, carried out in vitro, analyses the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity of Ash.
At the end of the trial the researchers showed that Ash countered the oxidation of the membrane lipids of human erythrocytes (antioxidant activity) and reduced the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Grape seeds
- Int Immunopharmacol. 2013 Sep;17(1):79-87. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp. 2013.05.026. Epub 2013 Jun 10. Grape seed proanthocyanidin extract has potent anti-arthritic effects on collagen-induced arthritis by modifying the T cell balance. Ahmad SF, Zoheir KM, Abdel-Hamied HE, Ashour AE, Bakheet SA, Attia SM, Abd-Allah AR.
This study, carried out on mice, aims to evaluate the effects of grape seed proanthocyanidin extract on arthritis, in particular on the key mediators of arthritic inflammation, namely subgroups of T cells.
After the extract was given, the blood of the animals showed a significant reduction in T cells and in other subgroups of pro-inflammatory cells.
This aspect could underlie the anti-inflammatory activity of grape seeds, which can become a supportive treatment in these cases.
Myrrh
- Nutrafoods (2019) 2 95-99. DOI 10.17470/NF-019-0013 Analgesic effects of RodeMyr®, a Commiphora molmol extract with a highly standardized furanodiene content. Di Pierro, Bertuccioli, Giuberti.
In this study the researchers evaluate the analgesic action of myrrh in subjects affected by chronic pain.
The results of the study show that the use of myrrh dry extract is effective in reducing the perception of pain without adverse effects.
- Biomed Res Int . 2017;2017:3804356. doi: 10.1155/2017/3804356. Epub 2017 May 24. A Pilot Study on Bioactive Constituents and Analgesic Effects of MyrLiq®, a Commiphora myrrha Extract with a High Furanodiene Content Antonio Germano, Andrea Occhipinti, Francesca Barbero, Massimo E Maffei.
In this study the researchers analysed the analgesic effects of Myrrh extract.
The study was carried out on 184 people (95 women and 89 men) aged between 18 and 60 with a range of complaints: headache, fever-related pain, joint pain, muscle pain, lower back pain and menstrual cramps.
The group was divided into two and one was given Myrrh extract and the other a placebo for 20 days. At the end, all the participants in the group that was given Myrrh extract reported a reduction in pain. From these results, the researchers conclude that Myrrh extract possesses significant analgesic properties.
[1] Nutrafoods (2019) 2 95-99. DOI 10.17470/NF-019-0013 Analgesic effects of RodeMyr®, a Commiphora molmol extract with a highly standardized furanodiene content. Di Pierro, Bertuccioli, Giuberti.
[2] Quotidianosanita.it Più di 20 milioni di italiani dichiarano di soffrire per dolori fisici [More than 20 million Italians say they suffer from physical pain]. 18 January 2018
Our texts are for information purposes only; they are not to be understood as an indication for the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions and are in no way intended to replace the advice of a doctor.
