|
|
|
Pycnogenol, the Immune System and Toxic Stress |
|
|
|
Pycnogenol, the Immune System and Toxic Stress
by Frank Schönlau, Ph.D.
Increased oxidative stress, production of
free radicals and lack of antioxidants
are known to drive the over-reaction of
the immune system resulting in
autoimmune diseases. This heightened
oxidation also deprives the immune system
of the ability to counteract infections
efficiently.
We are continuously surrounded by myriads
of microorganisms, most of which are
quite harmless unless they are allowed to
enter our body as a result of injuries. Other
microorganisms, on the contrary, gain access
inside of our bodies and live as parasites. Our
immune system consists of a multitude of
different immune cells which act as specialists
for various tasks to fight infections. It
requires intelligent strategies to distinguish
body-own tissue from microorganisms
which are often equipped with camouflage
techniques to escape detection.
Unfortunately our immune system is not
perfect. Sometimes our system mistakenly
perceives body-own tissue as foreign and
attacks it. These autoimmune diseases are
quite common nowadays: multiple sclerosis,
lupus erythematosus and diabetes type I are
typical examples. There is increasing epidemiological
evidence that children who are
raised in a rural environment are less prone
to develop autoimmune diseases. It appears
that keeping the immune system “busy”
fighting off minor infections prevents it from
over-reacting against body-own tissue.
Pharmacological as well as clinical studies
show that nutritional approaches allow
improvement of immune functions. Dr.
Ronald Watson at the University of Arizona,
Tucson, has researched the effect of supplementation
with Pycnogenol® (pic-noj-en-all),
French maritime pine bark extract, on the
immune system. He illustrates that mice
infected with a virus showed a more potent
immune response when they had been fed
Pycnogenol, which is known as one of the
most powerful antioxidants.
It is common knowledge that the
immune system progressively gets weaker
with increasing age. The vast majority of
immune cells originate from the bone
marrow where stem cells divide and give rise
to the many subsets of immune cells. These
cells lose the ability to produce new immune
cells as a result of cumulative damage caused
by free radicals.
Dr. Benjamin Lau of Loma Linda
University in California, measured the
output of new immune cells from the bone
marrow in a special strain of mice aging very
quickly. These mice produced less immune
cells already within a couple of months. He
discovered that feeding mice with
Pycnogenol for two months dramatically
increased the number of immune cells generated
in their bone marrow as compared to
their non-treated littermates.
Allergies such as hay fever and asthma are
over reactions of the immune system to
harmless foreign material like pollen or
animal hair. Dr. Watson has carried out a
double-blind clinical study with asthmatics.
His study showed that asthmatics taking
Pycnogenol could breathe more easily while
the placebo group did not experience an
improvement. He searched for inflammatory
markers in the blood of his patients and
found that these were significantly reduced
in the group taking Pycnogenol.
These studies show that powerful superantioxidants
like Pycnogenol have a profound
effect on normalizing functions of the
immune system and alleviating toxic stress in
the body caused by environmental factors.
Incorporating antioxidants into your daily
routine provides health benefits, makes you
feel good and can help you maintain a
healthy immune system.
|
|
|
