Windmill daily vitamin with iron and beta carotene
Arnebia (zi cao or ying zi cao)
Chaenomeles Fruit(mu gua)
Cinnamon (rou gui or gui zhi)
Elder (sambucus nigra or sambucus canadensis)
By Kim Vanderlinden, ND, DTCM
Esterified fatty-acid complex (EFAC), which is not to be confused with essential fatty acids, may indeed be our most potent natural anti-inflammatory. Clinical trial results using EFAC, both as a topical agent and as an oral supplement, have been nothing short of spectacular. The results have been so dramatic that it appears to be a major breakthrough in arthritis and pain management. And as we know, genuine advancements are few and far between.
Esterified Fatty Acids vs. Essential Fatty Acids
Esterified fatty acids have another unique property: They are very well-absorbed topically, thereby reaching target tissues. This has major implications for chiropractic care. The active agent itself is the penetrating agent, versus trying to mix active ingredients and carriers in the same formula and hoping that some of the active agent passes through the skin along with the carrier.
EFAC for Knee Osteoarthritis
Two clinical trials using EFAC to treat osteoarthritis of the knees have been published in the very highly regarded Journal of Rheumatology. Once study tested an oral capsule, and the other tested a topical cream. 2,3 Osteoarthritic knees are often the subject of anti-inflammatory and joint health research because knee OA is prevalent and it provides a functional benchmark with which to compare previous research on other treatments.
In the topical cream trial, patients were tested at baseline, 30 minutes after the first application to the knees and after 30 days of applying the cream twice daily. 3 Range of motion of their knees, ability to ascend and descend stairs, ease of getting up from a sitting position and balance while stepping down was tested. After only 30 minutes, the EFAC cream improved the ability of patients to perform the above tasks. There were also long-term benefits. After 30 days, the patients improved significantly.
What About Glucosamine and Chondroitin?
The NIH conducted the GAIT trial, which is the largest (1,583 patients) and most rigorous trial ever conducted on glucosamine and chondroitin. 4 In 2006, the initial results of the trial were released: After six months of treatment, there was not a statistically significant reduction of knee pain compared to placebo. However, many physicians continued to recommend glucosamine and chondroitin despite the negative results in the NIH trial because even if they did not relieve pain, they still provided benefit for the cartilage.
GAIT trial patients were given the option to continue for an additional 18 months for a total treatment period of two years to determine whether glucosamine and/or chondroitin would benefit cartilage. The results: Glucosamine and/or chondroitin came up short again, as they did not prevent a statistically significant loss of cartilage. 5
Should we continue to recommend glucosamine and chondroitin to patients? Chiropractors need to be leaders, not followers, in the field of pain management. Taking the position that glucosamine and chondroitin likely wonât help, but wonât hurt, either, is simply not serving the best interests of our patients, especially if an safe, effective alternative is available.
As physicians primarily seeing patients presenting with pain, success largely depends on the reduction of that pain. It is generally acknowledged that a majority of pain is due to inflammation. Therefore, to effectively combat pain, we often need to address that inflammation. EFAC, both topically and orally, provides us with a clinically proven tool to do just that.