Does NAC Help Arthritis

NAC helps to form the antioxidant glutathione and research suggests that NAC does have possible benefits in providing help for people suffering from arthritis.

Arthritis is an inflammatory disease which affects the joints. Sufferers experience pain, tenderness and swelling to their joints. Arthritis is caused by an interplay between provoked oxidative stress and inflammation. Arthritic disease can range from mild to chronic where sufferers are extremely debilitated and their quality of life rapidly diminishes. The number of people suffering from arthritis is expanding globally. Arthritis is also the leading cause of disability in the west. This is partially due to an aging population across the globe.

NAC helps to form the strong antioxidant glutathione within the body. Glutathione may be able to assist the body in reducing oxidative stress caused inflammation within the joints of arthritic sufferers. This is one important reason why various studies have suggested that glutathione boosting NAC does possibly have an ability to help people with arthritis.

Here the various studies which suggest that NAC does help arthritis will be considered to show how this glutathione boosting compound could support your health.

NAC And Our Health

NAC or N acetyl cysteine is a sulphur containing compound which the body uses to make glutathione. Various studies show that levels of glutathione improve with supplementation with NAC or a NAC supported diet. Glutathione has deep ancestral roots in our evolution and is one of the most important antioxidants within the body.

The purpose of antioxidants such as glutathione or GSH is to cleanse the body of oxidative stresses from toxins or radical compounds. This process is absolutely fundamental for sustaining life and supporting our day to day actions. Free radicals cause genetic changes which lead to cancers and may also cause inflammatory issues within the body. NAC formed glutathione has one of the most powerful oxidative stress or radical molecule cleansing ratings of all the natural antioxidants found within our bodies.

Various studies have shown that NAC reduces the risks of various diseases from Alzheimer’s disease to atherosclerotic build ups which lead to cardiovascular disease.

How NAC Could Help Or Support Arthritis

Arthritis is an inflammatory condition which affects the joints. 23% of the current US population is thought to suffer from arthritis. There are various types of arthritis and areas of the body which may experience arthritis.

Sufferers tend to experience pain, tenderness and swelling to their joints. This is as a result of inflammatory responses to provocation such as the wear and tear of important parts of the joints. Joint cartilage and synovial fluid form an important cushion which prevents physical grinding or stresses within the joints. They allow for the smooth movements of our limbs. Provocations to these important joint components initiate localised and systemic oxidative stresses which fuel the joint inflammation.

Oxidative stresses cause direct damage to DNA and proteins which are crucial parts of tissues. This could result in joint synovial inflammation for example. Inflammatory provocation is able to physically further stimulate oxidative stress and worsen arthritic symptoms too.

The ability of NAC to support healthy levels of the antioxidant glutathione is very important when looking at the possibility that NAC does help or support people with arthritis. NAC boosted glutathione levels could support with the systemic and localised inflammation caused by arthritic provocations. This is through natural oxidative stress prevention.

In addition NAC boosted glutathione could support the many cellular processes which contribute to optimal or speedy wound healing. For example vitamin C contributes massively to optimal wound healing and collagen production. Inflammatory or oxidative stress promoting environments and conditions sap or pull vast amounts of antioxidants. This can of course include antioxidants like vitamin C.

As a powerful antioxidant glutathione could possibly protect or shield antioxidants such as vitamin C within the body from unnecessary use in stressful conditions. This is of course just one of the various antioxidants we need on a daily basis.

Does NAC Support Arthritis

Various studies suggest that NAC does help or support arthritis. One study gave arthritic patients supplemental NAC to help support antioxidant levels within the body and monitored their arthritic symptoms. Patients found they had significantly less severe pain, improved self assessed physical performance and arthritic disease activity with the NAC supplement. This study concluded that NAC does possibly help sufferers of arthritis possibly through reductions in inflammatory cytokine levels and oxidative stress.  

Another study backs this claim by showing that oxidative stress levels and inflammatory cytokine levels are greatly reduced with NAC supplementation. The study gave 600mg of NAC to arthritic patients twice daily and also found massive improvements in systemic antioxidant levels. This supports the antioxidant protective nature of NAC supplement boosted glutathione in helping sufferers of arthritis. Supplemental NAC has also be associated with possibly being able to prevent loss of bone which could also be of benefit for sufferers of arthritis.

Other studies have found that combinatory supplementation of vitamin C with NAC does have a possible role in helping sufferers of arthritis. One study found that both vitamin C and NAC were able to reduce rotator cuff oxidative stress. This could accelerate joint healing because oxidative stress is a major limiting factor on wound and joint healing. The study does also provide additional support for NAC as having a possible role in proving help for sufferers of arthritis.

NAC And Tissue Regeneration

Research has also found that NAC improves muscle cysteine and glutathione availability which encourages recovery from endurance exercise. This could have wider benefits for sufferers of arthritis and tissue recovery after stress from joint movements.

Central to tissue recovery in arthritis is cellular regeneration within the joints. For excessive damage or inflammation adult stem cells are of course required to help with joint tissue recovery such as bone or cartilage.

Mesenchymal stem cells are used to help restore cartilage and bone tissues. Research shows that mesenchymal stem cells play a role as repair cells capable of reducing local inflammation. They were initially discovered in the bone marrow but are also found in tendons, synovial fluid and the skin. Joint degeneration may cause a massive depletion in mesenchymal stem cell repair reservoirs.

One study showed that NAC supports mesenchymal stem cells with bone regeneration via stimulating antioxidant activity. NAC does therefore have further possible supportive functions in providing help to sufferers of arthritis which extend beyond basic antioxidant support.

Another study showed that both vitamin C and NAC are protective of joint regenerative mesenchymal stem cells. Other studies also support vitamin C as being able to support mesenchymal stem cells in cartilage regeneration. Reductions were found in vital markers of cell lifespan including necroptosis, mitoptosis and apoptosis. This is further evidence that NAC does have a possible in providing help to arthritis sufferers for assisting with tissue repair or regeneration. Because of the limited repair capacity of some joint tissues this further emphasises how important NAC and vitamin C could actually be in early stage prevention for arthritis sufferers.

Overall the research clearly shows that NAC does have a possible role in providing help for sufferers of arthritis through antioxidant activities and also possibly preserving tissue recovery.

Summary

NAC helps to form the antioxidant glutathione and does possibly have benefits in terms of providing help for people who suffer from arthritis.

Arthritis is an inflammatory disease of the joints. Individuals experience pain, tenderness and swelling. Oxidative stress and inflammation interplay to produce the symptoms of arthritis. The number of individuals who suffer from arthritis is currently growing year on year.

Because NAC helps to form glutathione this compound may support lowered levels of oxidative stress and inflammation within the body. Consuming NAC as a supplement or supporting your diet with NAC could improve levels of the strong antioxidant glutathione.

Research shows that supplementing with NAC reduces oxidative stress in sufferers of arthritis and supports systemic antioxidant capacity. NAC may reduce levels of inflammatory cytokines in arthritis sufferers. One study gave NAC to arthritic patients and found they experienced less severe pains and experience improvements in self assessed physical performance. Other studies highlight that NAC and vitamin C could work together to accelerate joint healing.

There is evidence that NAC prevents bone losses which could also support sufferers of arthritis. NAC boosted glutathione levels could also support mesenchymal stem cell viability as an antioxidant to improve tissue regeneration or recovery in sufferers of arthritis. Mesenchymal stem cells support healthy joint cell and tissue regeneration.

Overall the research clearly shows NAC does possibly have a role in providing help for sufferers of arthritis. This is thought to be because of a higher body antioxidant activity and possibly also via preserving healthy tissue recovery.

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