During the past few days I’ve been bringing you some bad news about over-the-counter painkillers. First, we found out that taking ibuprofen (the active ingredient in Advil and Motrin) every day can cancel out the blood-thinning effects of aspirin. Then, we learned that regular use of acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) or aspirin can double your risk of kidney damage.
For those of us who suffer with arthritis, this is particularly discouraging news. Millions of people rely on these medications to relieve their arthritis symptoms every day. We told you about an alternative in bromelain, the enzyme derived from pineapples that has helped many people treat their arthritis pain naturally. But if you’re still looking for a natural analgesic that works for you, new research shows that ginger might do the trick.
Ancient cure shows effects against painful joints
You probably already knew that ginger can treat an upset stomach. But in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine, ginger has been used as an anti-inflammatory agent for thousands of years.
In a recent study, scientists set out to test this ancient cure against the modern symptoms of osteoarthritis (OA). They recruited 247 patients, ages 18 and older, from 10 clinical centers throughout the United States. Each had mild to severe OA of the knee, as defined by the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria.
Once the study began, the participants began a one-week washout period, during which they did not take any anti-inflammatory or analgesic medications. (Up to 4 grams a day of acetaminophen was allowed as a “rescue drug,” and up to 325 mg of aspirin was permitted for blood thinning.) After the washout, the patients were randomly assigned to take either a 255 mg-capsule of ginger extract or a placebo each day for six weeks.
At baseline and throughout the study, the researchers used a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) to measure patients’ pain and their response to treatment. Patients rated their pain on a line; one end of the line represented feeling in the best condition, while the other end of the line represented the worst possible pain. Afterward, the researchers converted their ratings into numeric values. To be admitted into the study, patients had to experience knee pain between 40 mm and 90 mm on the VAS when they first stood up after sitting. The authors looked for an improvement of 15 mm or better in this score as the main efficacy measurement. They also used secondary measures like pain after walking 50 feet, self-reported quality of life, and score on the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis (WOMAC) index, which is a 24-question tool that assesses pain, stiffness, function, and total impact of arthritis pain.
Ginger extract reduces arthritis pain and stiffness
After six weeks of treatment, both groups showed improvement. But in every assessment category, the ginger extract group showed greater results. Sixty-three percent of patients in the ginger group improved their VAS score by 15 mm or more, while only half of the control group reported such gains. In fact, on average, the ginger group improved 8.1 mm more than the placebo group. The ginger group showed nearly twice as much improvement in pain after walking 50 feet, and also showed significant gains in all four points of the WOMAC index. The greatest impact was seen in stiffness, where ginger produced nearly a 20-point improvement over baseline measures.
Ginger is generally regarded as safe, but it can cause some minor side effects. In this study, patients in the ginger group reported mostly mild gastrointestinal effects like belching, stomach upset, heartburn, and a bad taste in the mouth.
The ginger therapy used in this study is a patented formula called EV.EXT 77, which is extracted from 2,500-4,000 mg of dried ginger rhizomes and 500 to 1,500 mg of dried galanga rhizomes. (Galanga is plant similar to ginger, which is also believed to have anti-inflammatory properties.) Laboratory tests have shown that one capsule of EV.EXT 77 contains close to one mg of salicylate, the same anti-inflammatory agent found in aspirin. Research has also shown that the extract can inhibit both cyclooxgenase (COX) and lipooxygenase, enzymes that trigger inflammation.
We’ve found two formulations that include EV.EXT 77. Zinaxin, available from pharmacyexpressusa.com, delivers the same dose of ginger extract used in this study (255 mg per capsule). Zinxosamine, offered by health-n-energy.com, combines 170 mg of the ginger extract with 50 mg of MSM and 350 mg of glucosamine.
Just in the last year, we’ve introduced you to several products designed to help combat joint problems, including Lyprinol, Pain Away, and Flexanol. But while these products have worked wonders for some of you, we’ve heard back from others that have not had the same successful results. Since different remedies work for different people, we continue to research advances against this debilitating condition and will report them to you as we find them.
If you suffer with arthritis pain and stiffness, haven’t found much relief, and are wary of taking painkillers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen, consider giving ginger extract a try. It won’t interfere with other medications, and it won’t damage your kidneys like acetaminophen or aspirin.
