Glucosamine is generally accepted in society as a supplement capable of reducing pain and inflammation. In most occasions it is prescribed by physicians to treat various forms of arthritis.
A healthy cartilage needs an adequate amount of glucosamine to maintain its status. The chondrocyte cells are like the machines in a factory that produce the necessary ingredients of a cartilage. Proteoglycans being one of the major components of a cartilage are made up of glucosaminoglycans (GAG). Glucosamine works as a precursor for GAG. This adequacy can be fulfilled by an internal production of glucosamine or through a preformed supplement of a combination of both.
In order to accomplish the mission, glucosamine molecules present themselves as raw materials for chondrocyte cells. Since this reaction uses preformed glucosamine molecules, the production of GAG takes place much faster.
On the contrary, chondrocyte cells will have to sit through three separate reactions, if it was to use glucosamine from an internal production source.
The second advantage of using a glucosamine supplement is that it acts as a stimulating agent as well.
When excess glucosamine is present, there are more reagents to perform the forward reaction that produces GAGs. When more GAGs are produced, the fibrotic articular tissues start to heal. As a result more sugar and amino compounds are diffused through synovial membranes. Once again the chondrocyte cells find themselves in the presence of more reagents to produce GAG. Ultimately, these GAG molecules contribute towards creating the cartilage matrix and joints regain their lubricacy.
The story doesn't end at this point. Glucosamine supplements are also known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. A lot of people have a habit of using NSAIDs to reduce the pain in joints.
They probably do not know the depth of the situation they are putting themselves into. NSAID has been very successful in relieving pain but they can severely damage vital organs like the liver, kidney and stomach. There is also proof that NSAID tend to inhibit the GAG process.
If this continues, your body can lose its natural ability to heal. Glucosamine on the other hand works out its properties with minimum damage to other organs of the body. It also has the ability to reverse the damage caused by NSAID.
Therefore, Glucosamine is much safer than other drugs in the body and maintains a friendly internal environment in Arthritic patients. The more the body produces healthy cartilage, the lesser the pain. Hence a Glucosamine supplement has turned out to be extremely beneficial in the case of treating joint pains.