Arachidonic Acid Troublemakers: Cow’s milk cheese Aches and pains from chronic inflammation can make you rely on painkillers for life. Arachidonic acid is a primary fuel for chronic inflammation; you’ll find it in organ meats, egg yolk, and cheese. You can limit the intake or try to balance the pro-and-anti-inflammatory profile in the body. Most people just take pain killers, but the problem with taking most pain medication is twofold. First, the body develops tolerance to prescription pain medication, which forces patients to take higher doses, thus increasing the risk of addiction or dependency. Secondly, prescription and over-the-counter anti-inflammatories raise the risk of harmful side effects such as gastrointestinal bleeding or cardiovascular events. I’m seeing young women routinely take ibuprofen for monthly cramps, and young soccer players practically overdose with daily Advil, Motrin or Nuprin. Aleve, which has serious allergic responses from blood in the urine to massive respiratory failure, is another abused OTC remedy. Then there are the non-opioid analgesics such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and aspirins (salicylates) which do not reduce inflammation like NSAIDs, and we know inflammation is a central cause of pain and discomfort. CoX-2 inhibitors like Celebrex (a prescription drug) also attempt to reduce inflammation, but have a terrible history of creating ulcers and GI problems. Drugs such as hydrocodone (the main ingredient of Vicodin) and oxycodone (Oxycontin) are often the best options for the treatment of moderate to severe pain for patients facing medical conditions ranging from a wisdom tooth extraction to cancer. The drugs bind to specific molecules (opioid receptors) on nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to prevent the feeling of pain. Again, addiction is a serious problem with these drugs, and these addictions are beginning to surpass the use of illicit drugs as the primary source of drug addiction in the US.
Other opioid pain relief drugs such as codeine, or the popularly given Tylenol with Codeine in the hospitals work by targeting the orthosteric site of the opioid receptor that provides pain relief. Targeting this site, however, is a double-edged sword because it is also responsible for all of the drug’s unwanted side effects, such as constipation and respiratory depression. Tolerance also limits chronic use of the drugs because higher doses are required to maintain the same effect. The same goes for morphine, Fentanyl, Darvon, Dilaudid, Demerol and Methadone. All these strong pain medications ultimately increase the risk of withdrawal symptoms and addiction, which is an especially serious issue with the current prescription drug abuse epidemic in our country. Two non-opioids that are popularly taken are Aleve and Naproxen. The GI problems with these agents are notorious. Stomach bleeding and GI bleeding and rupture to the point of death, along with liver or kidney disease, asthma, polyps in the nose, bleeding and clotting disorders are just a few of the problems. Simply put, pain falls into two categories: acute or chronic. We experience acute pain when there is an actual new threat to tissue damage or a potential for lasting damage from trauma, an injury, surgery, inflammation or illness. Acute pain is a warning signal that demands immediate attention or further toxicity or damage to the body occurs. Chronic pain is ongoing or intermittent pain that lasts for more than 30 days. It’s a warning signal that the body is not getting what it needs: oxygen, rest, and nutrients. There could be a biomechanical problem, such as bone wearing on bone due to the absence of cartilage, a rare disorder such as hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy (HSAN). Almost 65% of people with pain are suffering from chronic inflammation. They are confused by the lack of recent injury or obvious disease condition, but they complain of hurting in various spots—head, neck, shoulders, back, knees; everything feels tight and tense and sore—for no apparent reason. Consider the Institute of Medicine report that one-third of all Americans — more than 116 million people — live with long-lasting, chronic pain.3 That is more than all the people who have heart disease, diabetes and cancer, combined. However, despite significant numbers who experience long-lasting pain, the IOM points out that adequate treatments are lacking. The best approach is an integrative one: healthier diet (less sugar, no excess carbs, less alcohol, no unhealthy fats and refined flours, more vegetables, daily exercise, and a naturally-occurring compound that has a proven track record for reducing excess levels of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) enzyme that breaks down Arachidonic acid to pro-inflammatory leukotrienes, with other botanicals that are anti-inflammatory. I found a water-soluble combination of “Nature’s WD-40" (Cetyl Myristoleate) and high grade botanicals used in indigenous societies in South America and Asia including Boswellia serrata, Sea Buckthorn and Sacha Inchi oils. For additional supplement support, consider D-Ribose (about 3 grams per day), NAC, coenzyme Q10, and acetyl-l-carnitine (1000 mg a day) for three months. Friday, June 21, 2013 Do you know about your 5-LOX pathway, and the trouble that ensues (aches and pains and inflammation) when you don’t keep it in balance? Comments are closed.
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