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Is Collagen Type II A Cure For Arthritis and Heart Disease? |
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Page 2 of 10
Another advantage of collagen type II over
cartilage is that it is much more absorbable, Researchers have recently
demonstrated about eight percent absorption of ground cartilage,
whereas the components of collagen type II have a much higher
absorption rate of 70 to 90 percent. This means considerably less
collagen type II has to be taken in comparison to cartilage. Most
people have to take 9 to 12 grams of cartilage in order to get a
response, whereas with collagen type II as little as two grams, and
more commonly three to four grams, are quite sufficient.
When
people suffer from arthritis, there is a selective destruction of
collagen type II in the joint cartilage itself. Scientists know that
this particular component of cartilage is being attacked by white blood
cells and somehow this activates the immune system in the rheumatoid
arthritic patient to develop antibodies to collagen type II. This then
sets up an immune response to all of the cartilage that is degenerating
in the body. Thus, both wrists hurt, both knees hurt, the hips, the
back, etc. In osteoarthritis, we have a wear and tear type of
destruction of the cartilage with the release of soluble collagen type
II, but without the immune response. The end result is the same. Pain,
more pain, and loss of quality of life. The question now becomes how
does collagen type II turn off the immune system in the rheumatoid
arthritic. The answer is that collagen type II's effectiveness is
accomplished through "oral tolerance." A few years ago, Dr. Howard
Weiner from Brigham and Women's Hospital, discovered that there is a
part of the intestine called the GALT (gut-activated lymphoid tissue),
which is part of our immune system. Basically, white blood cells in the
GALT allow us to eat a variety of different kinds of proteins without
developing an allergy or sensitivity to them. The system of oral
tolerance was actually discovered many years ago by German scientists
who fed poison ivy to severely allergic patients and effectively
eliminated their allergy to poison ivy. It goes back to the homeopathic
principle of "like cures like."
Dr. Weiner started feeding cow
myelin to multiple sclerosis patients and produced improvement in their
symptoms. Dr. David Trentham, out of Harvard University, later teamed
up with Dr. Weiner to investigate the side effects of chicken sternal
collagen type II being fed to arthritic rats. What they found was quite
remarkable. By the second or third months the rats no longer displayed
any symptoms of arthritis. There was a profound amelioration of the
disease.
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