MSM is used as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent
in musculoskeletal pain, it may facilitate dose reductions in conventional
analgesic drugs, including narcotics; as a sulfur source for general
sulfur supplementation or for musculoskeletal tissue healing after injury;
as an antihistamine agent in allergies; as an antihistamine agent in
allergic asthma.
MSM is a natural and very safe nutritional supplement
that is achieving a lot notoriety because of the many types of pain and
inflammatory conditions it is able to address successfully. It is found in
most plant foods and in meats, as well as in the body. MSM is recognized
as a safe and virtually side-effect-free remedy for addressing painful and
inflamed conditions, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis,
juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, chronic back pain, chronic headache (less
likely to help migraine suffering per se), muscle pain, fibromyalgia,
tendinitis, bursitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, TMJ, post-traumatic pain and
inflammation, lupus, scleroderma, and interstitial cystitis. Not only is
it an important factor in pain and inflammation management, MSM delivers
significant help in managing allergies and allergy caused asthma.
MSM has repeatedly provided significant reduction or full elimination of
suffering due to unrelenting pain and / or inflammatory conditions. MSM
has been described as miraculous because in some cases it has over turned
what seemed like hopeless intractable suffering without rescue. For the
most part though, MSM serves the swelling legion of North Americans who
use inordinate amounts of drug intervention to control the pain and
inflammation of a host of conditions that fill our daily
conversations.
MSM delivers chronic pain relief with a performance that is comparable to
the standard array of drug analgesia, and in many cases out performing the
drug approach. However, be aware that MSM does not work as fast as
traditional drug analgesia, and decidedly is not for the quick fix. For
many chronic sufferers though, who seek deliverance from drug toxicity
they bear as an unwanted added burden, the MSM waiting period is
refreshingly insignificant. Commonly, it is a mere one to three weeks for
the onset MSM is thought to work along four lines. Firstly, MSM is able to
block pain impulses without toxic harm to the body associated with
traditional and narcotic analgesic drugs. MSM's is thought to block the
non-myelinated nerve fibers, referred to as the C-fibers. It is along the
C-fiber network of nerves that deep aching pain is conducted. MSM has
proved itself in significant pain control in approximately 70 percent of
cases, with minor to no benefit in the balance of cases. It is appreciated
for its ability to allow the user to eliminate or significantly reduce the
quantity and frequency of analgesic drugs.
There is also some indication that the pain controlling benefit partly
stems from blocking the perception of pain in the brain, but without
affecting cognitive or driving ability as seen with heavy narcotic use.
Pain is also thought to be reduced in part by the anti-inflammatory action
of MSM. It also blocks muscle spasms that can be a significant factor in
neck and scalp related headaches, or the pain of neck whiplash or lower
back spinal pain.
Secondly, MSM is thought to be a sulfur-donor to the many metabolic
operations that depend on adequate daily sulfur supply, including healing
processes. Sulfur is critical to the production of collagen, the chief
constituent of all connective tissue in the body. Therefore, adequate
sulfur supply is central to restoring or maintaining musculoskeletal
structural integrity, and especially so after traumatic injury when
collagen production increases.
Thirdly, MSM is thought to enhance the body's own anti-inflammatory
control system. Chronic inflammation responds to MSM because, in some
unexplained way, it drastically increases the effectiveness of cortisol.
As we grow older, adrenal cortisol production to control inflammation may
have waned enough that enhancing the body's sensitivity to a reduced
supply of cortisol with MSM could pay great dividends.
And fourthly, MSM seems to accelerate healing with marked improvement,
even in cases that had been resistant to other treatments.
Regarding allergies, in The Miracle of MSM The Natural Solution for Pain,
clinicians Stanley W. Jacob, MD and Ronald M. Lawrence, MD, PhD, writing
out of extensive experience with MSM, state that the single most powerful
benefit offered by MSM is its quick relief of the symptoms of common
allergies, for most users. Often the relief comes in one or two days, even
if the allergy is of long standing. They feel that the abatement of pollen
allergies delivered by MSM is so profound that it may be the best remedy
since the introduction of antihistamines decades ago. In fact, it is not
unusual for MSM users to say that it is better than antihistamines, and
revel in their deliverance from antihistamine drug use. And perhaps the
most wonderful feature, it can be used in children, sparing them from an
early encounter with bodily toxicity. Other allergies including sinusitis,
food allergies, skin allergies, etc, may respond to MSM as well.
Allergic asthma is another condition that MSM can address, and in most
cases it does so well. Those with allergic asthma should involve their
physician in order to provide professional counseling on how to understand
any gains and on medication changes that seem warranted. MSM may provide a
major improvement in asthma management, including the attainment of
greater forced expiration volume (FEV) and reduced cortisone requirements.
With daily use, and with physician participation, MSM offers the hope of
significant respiratory health enhancement.
Allergy symptoms arise due to some weakness in the immune system and due
to inflammation. The action of MSM is observedto impact on these two
domains, but the exact mechanism of how MSM reduces allergy symptoms is
not fully understood.
In people without allergies, the immune system efficiently controls the
threat of invading foreign particles like pollen, with a metered amount of
histamine release. This efficiency delivers sufficient histamine in the
invaded area to bring about a defense cascade of chemical events inside
mucous membrane cells and ancillary immune cells that comfortably rids the
body of the foreign invaders. It is a quiet battle, with efficient
dispatch. In fact, these lucky people do not realize that their immune
system is in high gear because they do not feel the battle that is taking
place. However, an exaggerated release of histamine by an over excited
immune system provoked by an invading foreign particle, creates an
exaggerated defense response, which is felt as the symptoms of an allergy
attack. It is an ugly battle, where friendly-fire from immune elements is
afflicting self.
Exaggerated histamine levels enter the mucous membrane cells in the
affected areas and cause inflammation, swelling, itching, mucus flows, and
other symptoms of allergy. MSM does not inhibit the production of
histamine from within the immune system, as do some anti-histamines, but
it is thought to block histamine from entering the mucous membrane cells,
thus preventing the exaggerated defense response with its unwanted
symptoms.
In the case of allergic asthma, also called extrinsic asthma, restricted
breathing occurs because an exaggerated histamine allergy response has
involved the trachea and the bronchial air passage way with smooth muscle
constriction, swelling of the bronchial membrane, and the formation of
mucus plugs. All three of these conditions work against the free flow of
air, thus the characteristic features of an asthmatic episode from
restricted breathing and wheezing to full blown closure of the air passage
way. MSM blocks the excessive histamine involved in allergic asthma.
After many years of clinical use, MSM has not been
associated with adversely interacting with prescribed
medications.
DMSO has been found to counteract platelet
aggregation. MSM as a derivative has not been so studied but there is
indication that it also will present a blood thinning effect. Those using
coumadin or other blood thinning medication, including other natural blood
thinning products like high doses of garlic, salmon oil, grape seed
extract, and high doses of vitamin E, may be at risk of bleeding problems
if using high doses of MSM.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
