Frequently Asked Questions
JOINT PAIN & WOBENZYM®
Is Wobenzym® a pain reliever?
Pain reduction has been well
documented in various conditions, including rheumatic joint disease.
These analgesic effects are based on the inhibition of inflammation
as well as the direct influence on the nociceptors – the nerve cell
endings that initiate the sensation of pain. This ability to address
both the source of the pain – swelling and inflammation – and to
actually relieve the pain by decreasing the noxious stimuli to pain
receptors – so that the pain signal is diminished, makes Wobenzym®
a very good choice for pain management, especially when it comes to
joint pain.
How
does this apply to joint pain, which is one of the most common
causes of pain?
There are different reasons for joint pain – different
types of arthritis. Wobenzym® has been shown to be
effective in treating all forms of arthritis. A point to remember is
the word “arthritis” literally means “joint inflammation”. Yes, pain
is often involved, and we could use the term “arthralgia” which
means “joint pain”, but the root cause of that pain is inflammation,
so our goal is to address the inflammation, which will also relieve
the pain. Systemic enzyme support is effective in treating joint
pain because of its ability to
control the destructive inflammatory processes
involved in the various forms of arthritis.
The different forms of arthritis include
osteoarthritis,
rheumatoid arthritis, as well as psoriatic arthritis, juvenile
chronic arthritis and even gouty
arthritis.
Considering patients with osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative
joint disease: A 2006 six
week phase III, randomized, double blind,
parallel group study compared systemic enzyme support with
diclofenac the generic name for a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
drug that is widely used to treat arthritis. Keep in mind that
diclofenac can increase the risk of life-threatening heart or
circulation problems, including heart attack or stroke – and the
longer it is used, the greater the risk.
Contrast that to those
studies that conclude that Wobenzym® reduced the risk if
myocardial infarction. Now, consider this: the 2006 study found
systemic enzymes were as effective as diclofenac – and noted that
the systemic enzymes were better tolerated.
A 2004 randomized, double-blind, parallel
group trial by a different group of researchers came to the same
conclusion. Within the six week observation period, they noted that
that systemic enzyme support “can be considered as an effective and
safe alternative to NSAIDs such as diclofenac in the treatment of
painful episodes of OA of the knee.”
And before that, a 2001 randomized,
controlled, single-blind study of seven weeks duration found that
systemic enzyme support “is as efficacious and well tolerated as
diclofenac” in the management of active osteoarthritis.
A number of studies conclude that Wobenzym® is an
effective and safe alternative to NSAIDS in the treatment of painful
episodes of
osteoarthritis of the knee and hip.
So, we see that systemic enzyme support is as effective as – and in
my opinion safer than - nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the
management of osteoarthritis. We see similar results for rheumatoid
arthritis and other forms of arthritis.
How
is rheumatoid arthritis different that osteoarthritis?
As you may know,
rheumatoid arthritis (often called RA) is
a chronic systemic inflammatory disorder that primarily attacks the
joints – although other tissues may be inflamed as well. Rheumatoid
arthritis is an autoimmune disease, so it is often treated with high
dosages of steroid hormones or other powerful drugs like
methotrexate, or gold salts, or high dosage NSAIDs.
Because rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease there are
increased amounts antibodies, such as Rheumatoid Factor and IgG-RF.
This can result in increased
circulating immune complexes, which, as we mentioned earlier,
are quite pro-inflammatory. We also see increased levels of
proinflammatory cytokines such as
TFN-alpha (tissue necrosis factor – which, as the name implies,
promotes destruction of tissue).As you would expect, there are also
increased levels of
C-reactive protein.
In contrast to osteoarthritis – which is a degenerative process,
rheumatoid arthritis is an actively destructive process.
How
does Wobenzym® affect the destructive process in
rheumatoid arthritis?
The studies show that systemic enzyme support is able to arrest the
inflammatory process, and relieve the pain, swelling, and redness of
affected joints. A 2001 study reported that in most patients that
were “definite signs of
rheumatoid arthritis
remission appear at the end of the first month” in patients taking
30 Wobenzym tablets a day.
An earlier study revealed had patients taking 7 to 10 Wobenzym®
tablets, 3 times a day for 2 to 4 weeks, and then lowered it to 5
tablets 3 times a day and monitored them for two years. Even at that
lower dosage apparent clinical remission was achieved in 80% of
patients by the 6th month of treatment.
I know we will want to talk more about dosing in another segment,
but this is a good time to point out that in aggressive and
destructive inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, we
typically see results at the therapy dosage of about 30 tablets a
day.
In addition to improvement of pain and other symptoms, we see
changes in lab results that monitor systemic inflammation. Another
study showed that from 15 to 30 tablets of Wobenzym a day resulted
in greater reduction of
C-reactive protein,
circulating immune complexes and pro-inflammatory
cytokines, including
TNF-alpha.
In fact, in patients treated with Wobenzym, the TNF-alpha levels
were 40% - less than half – of the levels seen in untreated
patients.
Just as we saw in osteoarthritis, Wobenzym®
protects and preserves joint cartilage significantly better than
NSAIDs in rheumatoid
arthritis50-60.
What
other types of arthritis can benefit from using Wobenzym®?
Juvenile chronic arthritis is a group of systemic inflammatory disorders affecting children below
the age of 16 years. Because of its inflammatory nature it is often
compared to the rheumatoid arthritis seen in adults. It is a
relatively rare condition (9 – 25 per 100, 000) which affects girls
2 to 3 times more often than boys. A small study including both boys
and girls revealed therapeutic benefits with 4 to 5 months. No side
effects were observed. Only two children experienced a relapse in
the more than 2 years of follow-up exams. The
addition of systemic enzyme support improved both articular signs
and extra-articular manifestations in the majority of the children
with juvenile chronic
arthritis and was able to help limit the use of corticosteroids
in some children.
Psoriatic arthritis is a
type of inflammatory arthritis that affects about 10 to 30% of
people who have psoriasis. A small study showed improvement at about
4 months as well. Now what is interesting, is they only used 9 to 15
tablets of Wobenzym® a day, and patients with rheumatoid
arthritis in the same study also required 4 months to improve. So
again, in aggressive and destructive
inflammatory conditions, I always advise a therapeutic dosage of 30
tablets a day.
Gout is a form of
arthritis that affects mostly middle-aged men and postmenopausal
women. After 3 weeks of adding Wobenzym® to conventional
gout therapy, they saw an improvement of 94.1% compared to only
47.3% with only conventional therapy.
So when you look at the research, you could say that Wobenzym is a
good therapy for all forms of arthritis including
osteoarthritis, rheumatoid
arthritis, as well as psoriatic arthritis, juvenile chronic
arthritis and even gouty arthritis.
If someone is already taking some type of
medication for their arthritis, can they still take Wobenzym®?
I would have to say yes. There have been Wobenzym
studies with patients already taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs (NSAID) such as
diclofenac sodium, movalis, phelden, or indomethacin. Some of the
studies also included patients taking allopurinol or methotrexate in
addition to the NSAID.
Learn more at:
Rheumatoid Arthritis
These studies show that Wobenzym® N is actually able to
improve the effectiveness of other mediations that are not working.
This is important because when the routine medications for severe
diseases failt to work, the patient more likely to be put at risk by
trying to using stronger mediations with more severe side effects.
While it is nice to know that Wobenzym® N can make other
drugs work better, we should keep our eyes on the other studies that
show Wobenzym® N actually working as good as the drugs.
How effective is Wobenzym® for treating tendonitis?
In treating
tendonitis of the shoulder, Wobenzym® PS significantly
decreases both shoulder pain
and disability within the patients receiving the formulation.
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