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Inflammation generally gets a bad rap. With all that pain and heat and swelling and such, it is tempting to enthusiastically declare inflammation as something that should be unconditionally avoided. While persistent, uncontrolled inflammation often does contribute to a decline in health and tissue function, transient inflammation (such as that resulting from exercise) may be essential to appropriate adaptation of tissues to stress. So, before we announce a universal ban on the ouch factor, let’s take a closer look at inflammation, and explore how a nutraceutical might promote the “good” while inhibiting the “bad.”
Let’s start at the end. A classic example of “bad” inflammation is osteoarthritis (OA), a condition in which the quality and functionality of cartilage tissue progressively worsens over time. OA is associated with pain, swelling, and reduced mobility that generally worsens over time. The funky physiology that drives OA requires an eclectic combination of reactive oxygen species, cytokines, and eicosanoids. Each of these categories of compounds uniquely contributes to a steady deterioration of cartilage structure. Thus, a massive swath of scientific energy is aimed at squashing production of these compounds in an effort to halt progression of osteoarthritis. But what if the presence of these compounds isn’t the problem? What if the problem is actually the absence of something else?
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