Collagen – The Rx Key to Youth

Dear Readers,

The common denominator to all connective tissues is the importance of the extra cellular matrix in relation to the cells themselves. The collagen represents the class of the most plentiful extra cellular proteins in the human body.

The chapter # 3 of the book “Rx for Youth” summarizes the importance of collagen in the body, the consequences of a lack of collagen, collagen diseases.

The author of the book compares different products of collagen and explains clearly why Genacol® is different and superior, in term of efficacy, to the other products.

H. Gonzalez, MD Research & Development Director DirectLab Inc.

COLLAGEN – THE TIE THAT BINDS

Collagen is the fibrous structural protein that makes up the white fibres (collagenous fibres)of skin, tendon, bone, cartilage, and all other connective tissues. It is also found dispersed in gels of the body to provide stiffening, such as in the vitreous humour of the eye.(1) In other words, collagen is the natural protein that composes most of the body’s structural support and is the primary substance of connective tissue. It is the fibrous connective tissue that holds our body together.

Collagen is present in all multi-cellular organisms. Collagen gives the different organs and tissues their strength and elastic properties. Twenty-five percent of the dry protein weight of the human body is collagen. Seventy-five percent of our skin is made of it, and in total – some thirty percent of our entire body is collagen. Collagen is part of the natural make-up of tendons, ligaments, joints, muscles, hair, skin, and vital organs. When the body’s essential supply of collagen is reduced, the body is affected. Weakness, fatigue, aches, pains, and an overall lack of performance are frequent symptoms of the problem – symptoms that only increase, as we get older.

Besides its many structural properties, collagen serves as the major catalyst for growth and repair of nearly all the body’s tissues. Many different aging diseases are related to the body’s supply of this vital protein and to disorders in the collagen itself. When our body’s collagen production is out of whack, so are we!
The body’s production of collagen slows dramatically with aging. This slowing process is stealth-like and rather insidious. It starts slowing in our mid-twenties, picks up speed in our thirties and forties, and then roars like a freight train through our fifties and sixties. Lack of collagen, or the body’s improper use of collagen, is the stuff that old age is made of.

Research scientists have been aware of the problem, but until very recently there was little that could be done because most non-medical collagen supplementation was useless. The body was simply unable to assimilate it. Oh sure, you could find collagen supplements in some health food stores, in the backs of magazines, and, occasionally, in a pharmacy. But they did little or nothing other than cost you money.

Scientific breakthroughs from the makers of Genacol® offer interesting anti-aging possibilities in the areas of collagen degeneration. Fortunately, a significant scientific breakthrough occurred as the result of a partnership between a French formulator, a talented group of biochemists, and a well-known Canadian medical grade laboratory. After considerable research and expense, the partnership developed a highly bioactive collagen matrix that the body assimilates early in the digestive process. The product is called Genacol®, and its development is so important in slowing the aging process, easing age- related pains, and improving appearance, that I will be discussing it in a section of its own in this chapter. However, never take any supplement without completely understanding why it is necessary. I feel that this product is necessary and here is why.

Why Collagen is Necessary for Youth and Health

Collagen is naturally produced by the body and can be taken in from select food sources. It is vital to the body’s functioning because it is the tie that binds! The body’s use of collagen cannot be overstated. It makes up the body’s joints, muscles, hair, skin, tendons, and ligaments. It provides the structure to our body and forms the molecular cables that strengthen the tendons. Collagen makes up the vast resilient sheets that support our skins and internal organs. Bones and teeth are made when the body adds mineral crystal to the body’s collagen.(2)

Collagen fibres are woven together like pieces of fabric to form a network in which new cells grow and reproduce. Any time the body needs to build new cells, such as in the healing or growing process, collagen plays the central role. Collagen is the substance that protects and supports the softer tissues of the body, and it is what connects them with our skeleton. (3) In other words, collagen is both the material and the glue that holds our body together.

COLLAGEN – LOOKING FOR THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

Collagen and Aging

The body’s production of collagen slows with aging. I mean, it really slows down. We first notice it on the outside of our bodies when tiny lines and wrinkles start showing up in our thirties. By that time, the lack of collagen production and collagen damage is already affecting the inside of our bodies. The damage gets our attention as strains and sprains become more severe. Things we have always done, like running or jumping, suddenly seem more painful. Injuries that have never proven serious before begin to hurt us. Joint pain becomes more problematic. We are feeling the pains of aging.

With continued aging, our connective tissue and muscle tissue breaks down due to an increase in collagen deficiency and damage. As a result, we experience a weakening of our skeletal structure. Like a stealth bomber, collagen deficiency sneaks up on us under the radar. One day we wake up and say to ourselves. This just doesn’t feel right!

Outside the body, the slowing of the skin’s production of collagen with age becomes increasingly more pronounced. The skin starts to wrinkle. It loses the youthful glow that our spouse and loved ones once admired. The appearance of healthful radiance vanishes. Soon we develop ridges and furrows, red marks and brown spots. Our skin dries out in places. One morning we look in the mirror and declare, not well! That afternoon we scour the pharmacies and health food stores for an assortment of creams, ointments, and lotions. Infomercials promoting the latest skin magic rejuvenator suddenly have an interest for us. It is only later, after we have applied pounds of grease to our skin and hundreds of dollars worth of secret lotions to our faces, that we realize that little of it works. Why? Because we are treating the symptoms, not the problem.

Discoloration of the hands is a symptom long associated with aging. Early on, our hands start to take on the wrinkled dishpan look so reminiscent of the old television commercials. What depresses many in today’s high tech dishwasher society is that most have not had their hands in a dishpan!

Early wrinkling of the hands signals the onset of collagen deficiency and in some cases, collagen disease.
We could learn to live with appearance if only the body’s lack of collagen production stopped there, but it does not. With collagen deficiency, comes collagen disease.

Collagen Diseases

Collagen disease, long associated with aging, represents far more than a single disease of the elderly. Collagen disease characterizes an entire group of diseases that involve abnormalities of the immune system. Along with the abnormalities, an inflammation of the connective tissue and blood vessels often results. This group of diseases is all part of the collagen connective tissue that provides the supportive musculoskeletal structure and the protective covering, such as the skin, mucous membranes, and vessel linings for the body.

According to the most recent statistics, some sixty million Americans suffer from some form of arthritis along with many other varieties of arthritic conditions.(4) This number is expected to increase to over seventy-five million during the next twenty years.5 All arthritis sufferers share common symptoms of severe pain and loss of movement in both range and motion, all of which destroy youth and lead to a diminished quality of life. Add to that the problems of cardiovascular disease (still the number one killer in the nation) and the debilitating effects of aging are increased many times over.(6)

Research has demonstrated that when people suffer from arthritis, a selective destructive of collagen in the joint cartilage has occurred. White blood cells attack the joint cartilage, which in turn activates the immune system to develop antibodies. These antibodies turn around and attack what they perceive to now be the enemy, the collagens. Consequently, the immune system response is to attack all the cartilage that is degenerating in the body. So even though there may only be a problem in one wrist or knee, both wrists hurt, both knees hurt, our back, our hips, and both shoulders feel the pain. In the end, the result is the same: aging pain increases along with a pronounced loss in the quality of life.(7)
The cost of traditional arthritis treatment has skyrocketed from $65 billion in 1992 to nearly $480 billion in 2002.(8) Most of the cost went to disability payments and lost time at work.(9) Arthritis was a factor in the costs resulting from over 20,000 deaths and two million hospitalizations each and every year.(10) In addition, there was an additional horrific cost of treating the side effects of the arthritis medications, including corticosteroid drugs and immune suppressive drugs. Without a doubt, collagen disease enacts a terrible penalty on society.

Collagen Diseases in the human body are divided into two main groupings:

1) those genetically determined or which are a result of structural and biochemical defects, and

2) those that are acquired and in which immunological and inflammatory reactions are taking place within the tissues.

Among the first group are disorders distinguished by structural defects affecting the formation of the collagen itself: acquired collagen diseases, the second group, are those most frequently associated with aging, though the first type may be as well. Examples of acquired collagen diseases include rheumatoid arthritis and dermatomyositis.(11)
Rheumatic disease is a frequently used term because rheumatoid arthritis, the most common of all diseases in this group, displays all of the many characteristics of this group.

The Pain of Arthritic Hands

The blood plasma of patients with collagen disease shows significant levels of auto-antibodies (these are antibodies that attack the body’s own proteins or cells). This antigen-antibody reaction leads to inflammation of many of the body’s vital tissues. The most common collagen diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic fever, lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, polyarteritis nodosa, and sclerodermia.(12)

Most of the collagen diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatic fever, are characterized by widespread joint pain. Rheumatic fever may also result in permanent heart damage, a condition more prominent in children than adults. Lupus erythematosus is an auto-kidneys, skin, and membranes lining body cavities. Dermatomyositis is most commonly seen as a rash that is accompanied by muscular pain. In polyarteritis nodosa the walls of arteries are damaged, and in sclerodermia, thick layers of collagen fibbers are deposited. Both diseases result in impaired organ function.

Some collagen diseases have no satisfactory treatment, but most can be treated medically. For example, rheumatoid arthritis is commonly treated with aspirin-like compounds, corticosteroids, and immunosuppressive agents, used separately or in combination with others.(13) Antibiotics treat some collagen diseases, like rheumatic fever, whereas Lupus or polyarteritis nodosa is helped significantly by corticosteroids.

How the Body Rebuilds Itself

Young people have pituitary glands that produce and abundance of GH (Growth Hormone). With aging, this hormone steadily decreases and the emphasis shifts to collagen. Collagen’s function in the body is to convert its natural protein molecules into the essential amino acids that are required by the body. Thus, collagen performs the important maintenance function of the body.

Whether the body can efficiency rebuilds and repair itself is dependent upon its ability to convert one body resource into another. This process of protein synthesis is a metabolic process requiring collagen as a catalyst. As collagen diminishes in the body, both the resource and the catalyst are reduced.

Research has shown that much of the body’s vital metabolic repair work takes place when we sleep.(14) It has long been known that the body switches gears shortly after we fall asleep. It moves from its normal, active-involvement state to a rebuilding-and-maintenance state. It is during this sleep that the body searches about for available collagen and other important nutrients to convert them into the important materials needed by the body.

Collagen synthesis is something that those of us who wish to look and feel younger must be interested in. Therefore, any food supplement that can enhance the rebuilding or the healing process is something that we should strongly consider. Producers of health food supplements have consistently recognized the need for collagen supplementation. But, non-medical collagens are not bio-available (a fancy term meaning that the body cannot use it). To get around this, some less than ethical manufacturers have engaged in hoodwinking schemes to encourage supplementation of collagens that are unabsorbable or certain hormone precursors that do nothing for the collagens.

The body manufacturers its own collagen every single day, but since production diminishes with age, the available supply of collagen quickly becomes less than enough. Deterioration of various body parts gradually follows suit. One of the first visible signs is wrinkling of the skin and the beginning of unexplained joint pain. Note that I said, visible signs of aging. The wrinkling and joint pains only represent what is happening to the outside of the body. One can only imagine what is going on inside.

Once begun, the degenerative conditions of arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other associative joint pain syndromes are relentless. Little can be done to alleviate the pain, much less stop the degenerative process. Don’t get me wrong. The body does have the ability to heal itself, but it must be given the correct materials to work with. Healing starts from the inside out. So does youth! Therefore, the only thing that works is to eliminate the origin of degeneration before it occurs.

Bursitis, Tendonitis, and Tendinosis

Bursitis, tendonitis, and tendinosis are three of the more common collagen diseases affecting us as we age, causing us to look and feel older. Bursitis is caused by arthritis inflammation or by infection.(15) The joint areas most commonly affected are the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, back, and ankle. Individuals with bursitis will have pain, tenderness, and stiffness near the affected area.16 As a result, local muscle weakness frequently develops as a result of avoiding painful joint movements, such as those caused by climbing stairs.

Tendonitis, an inflammation of the tendons, has mostly been considered the cause of tendon pain and an associated loss of strength and movement. More recently, researchers discovered that most people diagnosed with this disease have no signs of tendon inflammation. Consequently, medical sciences have come to see tendonitis more properly classified as tendinosis. Today, the terms are used interchangeably.

Tendinosis/tendonitis is caused by a breakdown of the collagen-composed tendon tissue. Collagen contributes to the robe-like structure of a tendon and to its strength. When collagen breaks down, small tears appear in the tendon, weakening it and causing pain. This collagen disease can affect children and young adults just as those who are aging. It is especially wearing on those who perform repetitious task in their jobs, sports, or daily activities. Carpet layers suffer this affliction in their knees, writers in their wrists, and tennis players in their elbows. Resting the painful areas, applying ice, or taking pain relievers can successfully treat bursitis and Tendonitis/tendinosis. This gives the body time to repair and reproduce the cartilage damage … provided the body is still producing the necessary amounts of collagen.

Arthritis

Arthritis is a general term describing inflammation in joints. The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which is also called degenerative joint disease. Osteoarthritis is associated with a breakdown of cartilage in joints and most commonly occurs in the hips, knees, and spine. It can dramatically affect the finger joints and the joints of the toes.17 With sixty million Americans suffering from arthritis, there is an arthritis epidemic. John Klippel, Medical Director of the arthritis foundation, flatly stated, this should be a wakeup call. We’ve always suspected the problem was greater than we had known about.

Unfortunately, the common methods of treatment won’t change the progression of osteoarthritis. However, two nutritional supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin have been observed to relieve pain and to slow the breakdown of cartilage, which in itself is a significant part of osteoarthritis. What is particularly interesting is that glucosamine and chondroitins (both sulphates) are components of normal cartilage. Some researchers have successfully demonstrated that the two substances appear to stimulate new collagen production. The only thing better would be to take a bio-available collagen supplement directly.

Cartilage

Cartilage is a rather firm rubber material that covers the ends of bones in normal joints. The primary function of cartilage is to reduce joint friction and, since cartilage can change shape when compressed, serve as a shock absorber for the bones.

Cartilage can change shape because it is composed of more than seventy percent water, which can be redistributed with compression or movement. Since cartilage does not contain nerves, you never feel pain when these changes occur. When collagen disease strikes as we age, this shock absorbing quality is reduced. That is why activities like running and jumping feel less comfortable as we age than when we were younger.

Collagen is a key component of cartilage, providing it with its strength. When the body’s collagen production is reduced, cartilage production is affected and so are all the body systems that contain cartilage.

Collagen, Wrinkles, and Stretch Marks

The body’s production of collagen in the skin begins dropping around the age of twenty-five.(18) But, it really picks up speed in the forties and fifties. Many studies have demonstrated that our skin’s natural production of collagen decreases at a rate of 1% per year after the age of forty. So, by the time a person reaches fifty- five, they have lost and additional fifteen percent of their collagen production capacity. By age seventy, the loss is over thirty percent and climbing.(19) Dr. Sal Martingano, a nationally recognized collagen authority.

With a lowering of collagen production, the skin retains less water, thins, and begins to wrinkle much like a plum becoming a prune or a grape becoming a raisin. As a result, the elastin in the skin becomes even more damaged, holds less water, and becomes much less elastic and resilient.

Weaker skin collagen results in increased injuries, fewer blood vessels, and weaker skin. In turn, the skin’s capillary walls become thicker, resulting in a reduced supply of nutrients and a reduced capacity to remove water products. The skin is now at a greater risk for infections, skin pigmentation colour change, and age spotting. Because the skin is less healthy, its ability to serve as a barrier to bacteria and viruses is reduced.(20) This creates an all-new round of aging problems.(21)

Collagen facial treatments, usually applied by masques, are heavily sought after in the beauty centres of the world. It is not uncommon to pay $150-$300 for a single treatment in Beverly Hills or New York City. The theory is that by applying collagen directly to the skin, the skin will absorb and use the material. BIG PROBLEM, THOUGH – it does not work. The skin cannot absorb the collagen molecules because they are too big. The same is true for the vast majority of creams and facial masks sold across drug store counters and elsewhere. They just do not work. One company has developed and excellent collagen treatment using a skin-absorbable collagen matrix. The good news is that the treatments do not cost $300, and they do work and work quite effectively.