What is Arthritis?
Arthritis means "joint inflammation", but it's really a group of some 100 diseases that cause pain and other symptoms in or near the joints. These symptoms often, but not always, include inflammation.
A key characteristic of many forms of arthritis is the breakdown of cartilage. Cartilage is nature's "shock absorber," a cushion-like structure that sits between the ends of bones and prevents one from pounding on or rubbing against the next. Cartilage also provides a smooth gliding surface 
within the joint. (A joint is a place where the ends of bones meet and, in many cases, move against each other as you use the joint. The slick, watery cartilage allows the bones to move smoothly, with almost no friction at all.)
When the cartilage becomes worn or damaged, or is lost due to disease or trauma, the joint no longer has a painless, frictionless range of motion - and it has lost it's shock absorber. The body attempts to repair the damage, but its efforts frequently go awry. The result is often pain, loss of joint mobility, inflammation and other symptoms. Over time, if the arthritis or trauma is not treated properly, the bones that make up the joint can lose their normal shape. This causes more pain and further limits joint mobility in the affected joints.
Click Here for Arthritis Type and Symptoms Checklist
Arthritis in the USA
46 Million Americans have some form of Arthritis!By 2030 almost 67 million people will suffer from Joint Pain! |
One out of every six people living in the United States has signs or symptoms of arthritis in at least one joint. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States: it has a significant impact on our nation's health and productivity, and impacts the daily lives and activities of tens millions of people.
Osteoarthritis is by far the most common type of arthritis in people over the age of 40. Most of the time, the cause of the disease is unknown. It is clearly related to aging, but it can occur in younger people. Metabolic, genetic, chemical and mechanical factors are also involved in the genesis of the disease. In addition, injuries and other illnesses can set the stage for osteoarthritis by damaging the cartilage or joint.
Whatever the cause, with osteoarthritis, the cushioning cartilage erodes to such an extent that bone eventually rubs on bone. Pain, stiffness and 
loss of movement are among the symptoms that result. The body attempts to compensate for the bone damage by causing the bone ends to grow thicker, but that can trigger the growth of bone spurs - little "outcroppings" on the bone ends - that make matters worse. As the disease progresses, you may suffer from swelling, warmth and tenderness in the joint, plus increasing pain and loss of mobility.
Osteoarthritis typically develops gradually, over the course many years. In many cases, it appears to be the result of wear-and-tear on the joints over the years, though why some physically active people develop it and others do not is open to question.
Most people will experience some degree of osteoarthritis, from slight to severe, at some point. In fact, if you are over the age of 50, you are likely to have at least one joint affected by osteoarthritis. After 55, the disease is more common in women.
Unlike other forms of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis is a disease of the joints only, and may only attack a single joint.
Osteoarthritis Facts:
- Affects nearly 27 million Americans today
- Often attacks the knees, hips, ends of the fingers, base of the thumbs, neck and lower back. May or may not cause inflammation, depending on the severity of the disease.
- May trigger pain or stiffness after the afflicted joint has been used - or even after it has not been used for some time. (Odd as it sounds, some movement is needed to keep the joint nourished and pain-free.)
- Can cause an unpleasant grating or "catching" sensation during joint movement.
- May lead to the development of painful, bony growths at the margins of affected joints.
If you suffer from any form of joint discomfort, or if you are one of the millions of people who have been given the diagnosis of arthritis, JoMo may be for you. The recent GAIT Trial demonstrated that glucosamine and chondroitin - key ingredients in JoMo - can relieve the pain of osteoarthritis of the knee among those people who have moderate to severe joint pain. Learn More
The Mayo Clinic also notes that, "The consensus of expert and industry opinion supports the use of chondroitin and its common partner agent, glucosamine, for improving symptoms and stopping (or possibly reversing) the degenerative process of osteoarthritis."6 The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons adds that recent studies appear to support the idea that glucosamine and chondroitin relieve osteoarthritis pain.7 Learn More
Causes of Osteoarthritis
The causes of osteoarthritis are generally unknown, but certain factors increase the risk of developing it:
- Heredity: Recent evidence suggests that certain genetic mutations may lead to an increased risk of osteoarthritis.
- Overweight and obesity: Nearly two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Carrying too much weight is a significant contributing factor to osteoarthritis of the knee, due to the increased stress placed on the joint by the excess weight.
Click here for more details on Arthritis and Weight Management - Repeated overuse of certain joints: Overuse of joints, particularly in high impact sports, is a major contributor to arthritis - especially arthritis of the knees, shoulders and hips. Click here for more details on Athletes and Arthritis and Exercise and Arthritis
- Aging: As you age, cartilage is less and less able to replicate and heal itself. Supplementation with type II collagen may help promote cartilage growth by supporting the natural collagen in your joints.*
- Gender: Women, in particular those over 50, are more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee than men.
- Other Factors: Other things being considered as possible contributing factors include lack of exercise, poor diets, and low intake of vitamins C and D. Click here for more details on Diet and Arthritis
Nerve injury.
Click here for Arthritis Type and Symptoms Checklist.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a body-wide disease that also strikes the joints. Simply put, rheumatoid arthritis strikes because the body is at war with itself: the immune system is mistakenly attacking healthy body tissues as if they were bacteria or cancer cells. Intent on destroying the "bad guys," the immune system goes after the heart, lungs or other tissues, including the joints: specifically, the tissues that cushion and line the joints.
No one knows exactly why the immune system goes haywire. Genetic errors are suspected, and perhaps a bacteria or virus must "activate" the errant gene in order to trip off the disease. Hormones may also be to blame, although exactly how and why is not known.
The disease can strike most anyone: children, young adults, people in the middle years and senior citizens; men and women; members of all ethnic and racial groups. However, women between the ages of 20 and 50 are common victims of the disease.
The rampaging immune system does not attack the bones in the joints: instead, it goes after the joint lining. The lining becomes inflamed, which causes pain and difficulty with movement. Cells belonging to the joint lining divide and grow abnormally, and then spread to nearby cartilage, bone and other tissues.
As the assault continues, cartilage and bone are destroyed, the ends of the bones move closer to each other and may touch, and the entire joint capsule - which contains the joint lining, cartilage and bone ends - swells. With time, the entire joint can become so swollen and damaged that it becomes misshapen and useless.
Rheumatoid arthritis typically attacks "matched joints" simultaneously: both knees, both shoulders, and so on. And even as it is attacking the joints, the immune system is also targeting the heart, lungs, blood vessels or other parts of the body.
In the joints, rheumatoid arthritis can cause pain, swelling, warmth, loss of mobility, rheumatoid nodules (pea-shaped bumps beneath the skin), aching, stiffness, and joint erosion that can been seen with an x-ray.
Other symptoms depend on which part of the body is also being attacked. If it's the lungs, the result may be difficulty breathing and chest pain; if it's the blood vessels it may be nerve damage, if it's tissues in the eye it may be pain and light sensitivity, and so on.
Although rheumatoid arthritis can be a very serious problem, many people with the disease live long and productive lives. Some 70% of those with the disease manage to keep the symptoms under control for long periods of time, and perhaps 10% of those with the disease recover completely (this usually happens within the first year).
Studies have shown that there is a potential benefit from consuming antioxidant-rich foods, like the pomegranate in JoMo, to combat the effects of Rheumatoid Arthritis - and possibly prevent arthritis.
For a recent study funded in part by the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, researchers deliberately induced arthritis in laboratory animals to test the effects of pomegranate.1 Mice injected with collagen were given either a pomegranate extract or water, before and after the injections. Those who received the pomegranate suffered from less arthritis, and when they did, it was less severe, compared to the mice receiving water. The pomegranate-receiving mice also had less inflammation and cartilage and bone destruction.
The researchers wrote that the results of their study suggested that pomegranate may help prevent arthritis.
JoMo was awarded an impressive ORAC Antioxidant Value of 32,619 by the Brunswick Laboratory. JoMo's Superfruit antioxidants include pomegranate and black cherry, and JoMo's ORAC value is higher than pomegranate alone!
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Bursitis
Small, fluid-filled sacs called bursae are strategically situated in the joints to reduce the friction generated by movement. If they're overused or injured, the bursae may become inflamed and cause pain and movement limitation that ranges from annoying to severe. This situation is called bursitis, which means inflammation of the bursae.
Bursitis is a form of arthritis that may strike in the hip, shoulder and elbow, as well as the knee or other joints. It's often due to sports-related injury and can affect golfers, baseball players and other athletes who perform repetitive movements such as swinging a club or throwing a ball. But you don't have to be an active athlete to suffer: those who are overweight and have poor postures might also develop bursitis. Bursitis may also arise if bacteria infect the bursal sac, or as a result of other forms of arthritis (including osteoarthritis, gout and rheumatoid arthritis).
Bursitis can attack at most any age, but it's not common in those under the age of 20.2
Gout
Gout strikes the joints but it begins elsewhere in the body - specifically, in the blood.
Due to hereditary, dietary and/or metabolic factors, excess amounts of uric acid congregate in the blood. Alarmed, the body moves the extra uric acid out of the bloodstream and "stashes" it in joints and tissues, where it forms into needle-like crystals. The presence of these "pointy" substances triggers inflammation, swelling, redness, stiffness and warmth in the joint - and terrible pain.
A little over two million Americans suffer from gout, with men in their 40s and 50s the most likely candidates for the disease. (Women also suffer from gout, but typically not until after menopause.)
Gout can be intermittent, which means it hits hard and fast, lasting a couple of hours or a couple of weeks if not treated. In addition to the symptoms in the joint, you may also suffer from fever and chills, plus a general "sick" feeling. Once the problem resolves, with or without treatment, you may be gout-free for weeks or months at a time.
Gout can also be chronic, which means that the afflicted joints are permanently swollen and painful, and that the active acute attacks are frequent.
The large toe is a frequent target of gout: in half of all cases, the first attack is in the big toe. The elbows, wrists, fingers, knees, ankles and other joints may also be targeted.
The accumulation of uric acid crystals in the joints is the immediate cause of gout. Certain medicines - including diuretics, cyclosporine and low-dose aspirin - can increase the risk of developing gout, as can binge alcohol consumption, joint injury, surgery and long-term exposure to lead. Diseases that trigger kidney problems, such as diabetes and elevated blood pressure, may also trigger the disease.
Natural therapists believe that one of the best ways to reduce general pain and inflammation is through the use of black cherry juice, given its effect of neutralizing uric acid, a major contributor to Gout. JoMo was awarded an ORAC Antioxidant Value of 32,619 by Brunswick Laboratories, a leading independent testing laboratory. JoMo contains both pomegranate and black cherry antioxidant extracts in a concentrated format.
Fibromyalgia
A puzzling disease that defies easy diagnosis and treatment, fibromyalgia is characterized by inflammation of the connective tissues, such as the tendons and ligaments. No one has yet identified a cause of the disease, has found a bacteria or genetic error that is to blame.
Although the causes are a mystery, fibromyalgia does seem to be associated with a serious injury, surgery and psychological stresses. These factors don't cause the disease, but they may trigger certain genes that alter the functioning of the central nervous system, thereby bringing about the symptoms.
Pain is a characteristic symptom of fibromyalgia: aching, burning, stabbing, shooting or throbbing musculoskeletal pain that comes and goes, typically in the neck, upper back, elbows, lower back, buttocks and knees. The pain may be joined by prickling or tingling sensations, numbness or a feeling of burning.
In addition to pain, symptoms include fatigue, sleep disturbances, memory problems, abdominal pain, bowel problems, dryness of the mouth and eyes, and unusual movements of the eyes.
The disease strikes both sexes, but women between the ages of 30 and 50 are the most likely to be stricken. According to the National Fibromyalgia Association, some 10 million Americans suffer from the disease.3
Recent evidence suggests that fibromyalgia may be an oxidative stress disorder. In an international study published in Rheumatology International in 2005, the body's oxidant/antioxidant balances were found to be upset in fibromyalgia patients.4 This suggests that increased levels of free radical levels be partially responsible for the development of fibromyalgia.
If fibromyalgia is an oxidative disorder, supplementation with an antioxidant rich formulation such as JoMo could be of benefit to people with fibromyalgia, given that JoMo has an impressive ORAC Antioxidant Value of 32,619 (as tested by Brunswick Laboratories, a leading independent testing facility for ORAC values).
Lupus
An inflammatory autoimmune disease, lupus is a body-wide ailment that can attack the joints, skin, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys, brain and other parts of the body. Lupus arises when the immune system turns on the body, releasing antibodies that attack healthy tissue (instead of bacteria, cancer cells or other dangers). In addition to joint problems, people with lupus are at increased risk of suffering from heart disease, kidney failure and other serious ailments.
In the joints, lupus can cause pain, swelling, stiffness and tenderness. Like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus often attacks "matched joints" simultaneously, such as both wrists or both elbows. Other symptoms include the characteristic "butterfly rash" on the face, sensitivity to sunlight, ulcers in the mouth and nose, fatigue, fever, loss of appetite and hair, mood disorders, problems with concentration and vertigo.
No one knows what causes lupus, except in cases where it is triggered by drugs such as methyldopa and minocycline.
Women are 6 to 10 times more likely then men to develop lupus; and women between the ages of 15 and 40 are the disease's most common victims.5
JoMo Joint Health Program**
The purpose of any arthritis treatment program, therapy or supplement is to decrease pain and other symptoms, while increasing joint function—and in some cases, such as gout, to prevent the problem from returning or eliminate it altogether. Ideally, a program will include supplements that support joint and cartilage health, education about exercise and diet, lifestyle changes, weight management, and help in remaining active.
That's why we developed the JoMo Joint Health Program to provide a total support program for healthy joints.
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DIETMaintaining a healthy diet rich in nutrients and anti-inflammatory foods. |
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EXERCISEStaying active and keeping joints strong. |
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OTHER THERAPIESUsing alternative therapies to support healthy joints and an active lifestyle. |
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JoMoA high quality maximum strength joint nutrition and cartilage support supplement. |
Learn More |
Will Rest Help my Joint Pain?**
Generally, yes, but remember that too much rest may decrease circulation and lead to the pain becoming worse.
If you have joint pain, especially if it is related to overuse or physical activity, the following may help:
- Rest and generally avoid activities that aggravate the joint pain, especially weight-bearing activities such as running or tennis. Resting decreases the stress on sore joints and can help relieve pain and swelling.
- Apply ice. During the first day, apply it every hour for up to 15 minutes. After the first day, apply it at least 4 times per day.
- Keep the joint elevated as much as possible to relieve swelling.
- Gently compress the joint by wearing an ace bandage or elastic sleeve to reduce swelling and stabilize the joint.
In some cases, physiotherapy and other forms of therapy may be helpful.
Click here for more details on Arthritis and Alternative Therapy.
Will Exercise and Strengthening of the Joints Relieve my Joint Pain?**
Exercise is an important part of a strengthening and rehabilitation program for the joints. A good exercise program will:
- Increase circulation to the joint to aid in the control of inflammation;
- Maintain or improve joint flexibility; and
- Strengthen the muscles surrounding the joint to prevent further injury and provide muscular support.
Before undertaking any exercises or treatment for the joints, whether for strengthening or post-injury rehabilitation, you should consult your orthopedic health professional. If any exercises make the pain worse, they should be discontinued immediately.
Click here for more details on Exercise and Arthritis.
Weight Loss Management and Joint Pain Relief**
"Lose the Weight and you may Lose the Pain!"
Obesity is a high-risk factor for the development and progression of osteoarthritis of the knee, and possibly of other joints. This is because being overweight places excessive stress and pressure on the weight-bearing joints of the body, such as the hips, knees and ankles.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), obese and overweight adults are up to 4 times more likely to develop knee osteoarthritis than normal-weight adults!
Some 35% of people with doctor-diagnosed arthritis are carrying excess body weight. Reducing body weight to a healthy level can lead to significant improvements in the quality of life for people with arthritis, while improving their general overall health and chances of avoiding other diseases, such as heart attacks and cancer.
Click here for more details on Arthritis and Weight Loss.
Diet, Nutrition and Arthritis**
If you suffer from joint pain it's important to remain active, educate yourself about your own care, and treat your body well by eating a low-fat diet complete with foods and supplements that decrease inflammation and support healthy joints, muscles and bones. Diet can have a significant effect on joint pain through:
- Reducing the consumption of foods that might promote general inflammation. Click here for details on foods that increase inflammation
- Increasing the intake of foods and nutrients that may reduce inflammation and provide joint support. Click here for details of foods that decrease inflammation
- Ensuring that you receive plenty of calcium and other nutrients that support bone growth, so as to lessen the risk of fracture.
- Maintaining a healthy mix of proteins and carbohydrates, as well as health-enhancing amounts of omega 3 fatty acids, to aid in muscle growth and support the joints. Click here for more details on Omega3 and Joint Health.
Click here for more details on Arthritis, Joint Pain and Diet.
Should I take Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)?
This is a decision for you and your physician to make together.
NSAIDs are medications that relieve pain and inflammation. This popular group of medicines includes over-the-counter versions such as aspirin, Advil and Motrin (ibuprofen) and Aleve, as well as newer, expensive prescription drugs like Celebrex.
Unfortunately, NSAIDs have well-documented side effects, including stomach pain, ulcer formation, bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, kidney damage and more. What's more, NSAIDS do not have any cartilage-enhancing or joint-strengthening properties at all. They don't get to the root of problem; they merely mask the symptoms for short periods of time.
Click here for more details on NSAIDs and their side effects
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Individual results vary.
**As with any program of diet, exercise, weight loss or therapy, consult your medical practitioner, especially if you have a history of heart disease or other conditions.
