Arthritis, Inflammation, Neuralgia

Dr. Lee and colleagues found Ecklonia Cava to naturally suppress inflammatory responses and defuse inflammatory damage caused by free radicals. The most favorable combination of ECE’s natural anti-inflammatory and tissue-protective properties appears to enable remarkable improvement in both arthritis and neuralgia. with human trial, ECE considerably reduced pain in a group of knee arthritis patients compared to placebo.

Cartilage protecting properties

Ecklonia Cava Extract compared nearly identically to celecoxib in the ability to reduce PGE2 by slowing down the lipoxygenase (LOX) system (a key inflammatory enzyme system). ECE compounds have more than double the ability of resveratrol (a powerful antioxidant polyphenol found in red grapes) to inhibit LOX. These results were demonstrated in a study on rabbit cartilage cells. Those cells treated with ECE had up to an 80% reduction in degeneration.

Comparable to Celebrex®

Ecklonia Cava’s ability to treat arthritis has been found to be comparable to Celebrex®, the prescription drug that reduces inflammatory enzymes known as "COX" enzymes.

The influence of ECE on the generation of inflammatory prostaglandins known as PGE2 was studied. ECE, celecoxib (Celebrex®) and aspirin all showed considerable inhibition of PGE2 generation in the concentration range tested. More exclusively, ECE showed inhibition of 61%, 85%, 92% and 99% at concentrations of 10, 30, 60 and 100 µg/mL correspondingly, showing similar activity to celecoxib which showed 65%, 79%, 85% and 96%.

Conjecture about Neuropathy Mechanism

The strong lipid and cholesterol reducing potential of ECE supports reduced vascular inflammation. Increasingly, the scientific literature supports the notion that many forms of nerve pain or neuropathy are caused by nerve pressure, as exerted by swollen, inflamed blood vessels adjacent to the nerves.

Neuropathy: 4-Week Clinical Trial

Researchers recently studied ECE on 40 patients with neuropathy. ECE reduced nerve pain by 40% in four weeks. Overall, 80% of the patients responded favorably.