Even a dry eye can become an unbearable pain.

All of us prefer to live without pain, no matter how slight. Is pain relief always relegated to pills? Are there other solutions that do not involve detrimental side effects? Some people use heat or cold, exercise, physical therapy, mind-body techniques, yoga, tai chi, biofeedback, music therapy, massage, and more.

I prefer to treat the cause of pain at the cellular level without side effects.

Inflammation

https://www.healthline.com/health/chronic-inflammation Inflammation in the body is normal. Except for the lymph and thymus glands, your immune system works at the cellular and sub-cellular levels. The regulation of your immune system is controlled chemically.

All the body’s cells have thousands of receptors on their surfaces, serving as docking points for chemical messengers – inflammatory cytokines. When docked at a receptor, these messengers signal a cell to act or not perform to a specific condition. A single receptor has no impact on the big scheme of things. But, when you are injured, such as a sprained ankle, the receptor cells in that part of your body receive the message to stimulate an appropriate response to that injury.

Aspirin

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161255 Aspirin predecessors (willow bark salicylates) have been used for over 2,500 years to treat various inflammatory conditions. At the end of the 19th century, the German chemist, Felix Hoffmann, working for Friedrich Bayer & Co., created what we know today as aspirin. Aspirin is the most used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Other NSAIDs include acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.

NSAIDs

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/drugs/11086-non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory-medicines-nsaids
The inflammation response mechanism of NSAIDs in the body was determined in the early 1970s. Aspirin, and other NSAIDs, block the cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme responsible for initiating the inflammatory process.

The COX enzyme controls the production of prostaglandins from arachidonic acid. The prostaglandins are messengers that signal the immune system to start the inflammation process. Blood flow and pressure are increased to that site. Blood vessels expand, tissues swell, heat and redness set in, endothelial cells that line the capillaries shrink, causing spaces between the walls for white blood cells to enter, and pain becomes noticeable.

This is the body’s response to injury, and it protects itself from further infection or damage that bacteria, viruses, or fungi might cause. Aspirin (NSAIDs) inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins and thereby reduce both pain and inflammation.

COX Enzymes

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/How_to_spell_pain_relief_in_the_wake_of_COX-2_problems Daniel Simmons (Brigham Young University) discovered two kinds of COX enzymes inhibited by NSAIDs – the COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. The COX-1 enzyme reacts with arachidonic acid to produce basal prostaglandins, which support kidney function, blood clotting, and stomach functioning.

The COX-2 enzyme reacts with arachidonic acid to produce prostaglandin E2, responsible for the symptoms associated with inflammation. NSAIDs treat both pain and inflammation and potentially allow kidney damage, bleeding problems, ulcers, and stomach irritation.

COX-2 Selective Inhibitors

https://www.everydayhealth.com/cox-2-inhibitors/guide/ In the late 1990s, scientists studied the effects of various drugs on both the COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes and targeted a product that was a ‘COX-2’ selective inhibitor – Vioxx, Celebrex, and Bextra.

Early NSAIDs were equipotent at inhibiting both COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. The COX-2 selective inhibitors were 30 to 300 times more potent in inhibiting COX-2 than COX-1 without having the same degree of gastrointestinal irritation. These COX-2 selective inhibitors’ effectiveness is like the earlier NSAIDs.

Celebrex and Vioxx were introduced in 1999 and rapidly became the most frequently prescribed drug in the United States. However, additional side effects have been cataloged regarding the COX-2 inhibitors – primarily Vioxx, which was withdrawn voluntarily from the marketplace due to an increased risk of myocardial infarction and stroke.

Prescription medicines inhibit the COX-2 enzyme more than the COX-1, but they still inhibited the COX-1 enzyme and caused additional and potentially more hazardous side effects.

Scientific research takes place in many forms – ‘in vitro (laboratory dishes), ‘in-vivo’ (laboratory animals), and clinical studies involving human subjects. Both ‘in vitro’ and ‘in vivo’ studies have been done on various natural products that might inhibit COX-2 and not inhibit COX-1. Very few were found. In the mangosteen fruit, there is a class of compounds called xanthones. One xanthone, gamma-mangostin, showed surprising results.

Gamma-mangostin

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304394005011936 Dr. K. Nakatani and others working at the Department of Pharmaceutical Molecular Biology at the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, determined that when gamma-mangostin was present in your body, the production of prostaglandin E2 was blocked – effectively shutting down the inflammatory response of the COX-2 enzyme while having zero effect on the COX-1 enzyme. This was the first study that demonstrated that gamma-mangostin directly and selectively inhibited only the COX-2 enzyme.

Dr. James Duke, a world-famous ethnobotanist, lists many of Garcinia mangostana’s benefits, and scientific proof can be found in almost 150 independent published scientific articles. Physicians are starting to replace prescription drugs with whole-fruit mangosteen juice. Dr. Sam Walters and Dr. J. Fredric Templeman offer their opinions on the efficacy of the whole-fruit mangosteen juice to be equal to or outperform the prescription drugs Valium Xanax, Vicodin, Percocet, Celebrex, Vioxx, Bextra, Ultram, Talwin, Midrin, Fioricet, etc.

Conclusion

Whole-fruit mangosteen juice is needed because most of the xanthones are in the skin or rind of the fruit. I remember vividly one day crushing my knuckle in the car door when I closed it. It hurt – a lot! I drank about six ounces (double my normal daily amount) of mangosteen juice within five minutes of the accident.

My finger never had any pain unless I squeezed the area that was crushed. I had full flexibility and mobility. There was no swelling, redness, or heat. I was able to shut down the COX-2 response before it could activate my normal body processes to treat inflammation. I have heard many other stories of similar results from decades-old back pain to migraines.

Mangosteen juice is a fruit juice. It is not medicine and cannot be prescribed. However, before buying a bottle and self-treating, talk over your plan with a knowledgeable medical authority to ensure that other drugs you are taking might become problems.

Live Longer & Enjoy Life! – Red O’Laughlin – RedOLaughlin.com

 

 

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