Oeteoarthritis and HA
Do you suffer from these symptoms
- Knee pain during movement
- Creaking or grinding sensation during movement
- Knee stiffness after rest
- Knee joint swelling
- Loss of range of movement / loss of mobility
Understanding HA
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring molecules that are contained in many tissues, not just the joints. HA is one of the components that give our tissues flexibility.HA is essential for healthy cartilage. It’s the chemical backbone that olds together the molecules, such as chondroitin sulfate, that make up the cartilage and give joint cartilage its special properties. HA is what makes joint cartilage the smoothest and most friction-free substance in nature. Nothing man-made can approach the performance of this remarkable tissues.
Oeteoarthritis and HA
HA is what makes synovial fluid thick and viscous - and it’s these properties that are vital to normal knee joint junction.But when osteoarthritis strikes, the amount of HA in the knee joint drops. In severe osteoarthritis, the level of HA in the joint fluid may decrease by 75% or more. When HA levels in the knee drop, for instance, the result is a creaking and grinding sensation, knee pain and, often, a condition called “movie-goers knee”.
It may sound funny, but movie-goers knee is no joke. it’s a real medical condition that occurs after someone with knee osteoarthritis sits with the knee bent at a sharp angle for a prolonged period of time - such as sitting through a feature movie or driving a car for a couple of hours.
Upon arising, a sudden, sharp, stabbing knee pain occurs. The knee pain usually goes away after walking a few steps, as the remaining fluid in the knee coats the surfaces of the cartilage ad cuts down on the friction.
Choosing the Best HA supplement
As researchers learn more about the HA pathways in the knee joints, they continue to discover new ways in which HA helps to relieve pain and improve function in patients with osteoarthritis.One of things they've learned is that oral HA supplements can be very effective - but only if they’re a high quality product that closely mimics the body’s own HA.
Today, the oral forms of HA sold as dietary supplements come from three general categories:
1. Low-purity animal extractions with collagen
2. Fermentation from bacteria; or
3. Concentrated extractions from avian sources
The original pharmaceutical forms of injected HA were all derived from the avian sources, so it makes sense that this is also the optimal form for dietary supplements.
Low-purity animal extractions mixed with collagen are undesirable because of two reasons. To get an adequate quantity of HA from these supplements, you’d have to take them in very large amounts. Also it’s questionable whether the biological activity of this source of HA is comparable with the others. HA derived from bacterial fermentation may also be less functional and it doesn't have some of the natural active components found in the concentrated extractions from avian sources.
