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by Jeremy Appleton, N.D., CNS
MSM A LEADING NUTRIENT for joint health
As more Americans grow older, more will be burdened
by the most prevalent chronic health problem affecting
the aging population: arthritis. However, Baby Boomers
and Gen-Xers are not going to take this lying down.
As the benefits of staying active into one’s sixties and
beyond become increasingly validated by medical research,
more and more people are looking for ways to
preserve the health of their joints. The joint health
segment of the dietary supplement industry has
been growing steadily for more than a decade
and should continue to grow as new ingredients
are regularly entering the field, and more
established ones are becoming better and
better studied. Such is the case with MSM
(methylsulfonylmethane).
MSM is a naturally occurring sulfur compound.
It is found in many plants and is present in small
amounts in common foods and beverages, such
as cow’s milk, coffee and tea, and raspberries.
MSM is a popular joint health ingredient, and
is frequently thought of in the company of glucosamine
and chondroitin because, like those ingredients,
it contributes to the integrity of cartilage.
Despite its popularity and celebrity endorsement,
MSM’s efficacy for joint health has, until recently,
not been sufficiently demonstrated in controlled
clinical trials. Apart from anecdotes, case studies
and one very questionable 1998 study, there
has been little scientific evidence of MSM’s ef-
ficacy, and certainly nothing strong enough to
impress medical doctors. All of that changed
with the publication in a major medical journal
of a high-quality, randomized controlled
clinical trial of MSM.
Research on MSM continues to accumulate,
with new studies appearing at
regular intervals.
MSM for Joint Health
The highest-profile
MSM study to date was published
in Osteoarthritis and
Cartilage, arguably the world’s
leading osteoarthritis medical
journal. In a collaboration
of naturopathic physicians and
mainstream rheumatologists, volunteers with established
osteoarthritis knee pain were given MSM (OptiMSM,
Cardinal Nutrition, Vancouver, WA)—3 grams twice a day or a
matching placebo—for twelve weeks. Although this was only a
small pilot study, MSM was found to significantly relieve pain
and improve performance of activities of daily living among
people with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee.
The researchers also measured whether MSM had any
effect on homocysteine, an amino acid precursor that
has been suggested as a risk factor for heart attack,
stroke and a number of other diseases. MSM lowered
homocysteine levels significantly compared
with placebo, suggesting that MSM, like folic acid
and vitamin B12, can donate its methyl groups
to homocysteine thus turning it into the harmless
amino acid methionine.
The results of this study corroborate the
findings of another double-blind trial, published
in 2004 in an Indian medical journal
called Clinical Drug Investigations.
That study also found MSM (Healers
Nutraceuticals, Chennai, India) to be effective
for knee osteoarthritis, at a dose of
1,500 mg per day. Another Indian study from
2004, this one uncontrolled, found benefits from a combination
of glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM (Cartivit, Apex Laboratories,
Chennai, India).
MSM in Sports Nutrition
Each year, thousands of amateur and professional athletes experience
debilitating injuries. Many will end up using painkillers
like aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
These drugs relieve pain and inflammation, but studies suggest
that when used long-term they can interfere with proper repair
and regeneration of connective tissue.
Most sports injuries involve pain, redness, heat, and swelling:
the four cardinal signs of inflammation. Methylsulfonylmethane
(MSM) supplementation can influence each of the phases
of inflammation with no reported side effects, commonly associated
with pain medications.
MSM provides the body with essential sulfur and methyl groups,
which are used in healing and repair processes. MSM is prized
by professional and amateur athletes for effective nutritional
support of recovery.
MSM for Skin, Hair and Nails
MSM is an increasingly popular ingredient in health and beauty
products. It has been included in lotions, creams, gels, shampoo,
and even toothpaste. It is commonly reported that taking
oral MSM supplements has the beneficial side effects of improving
the quality of connective tissue. When people started
using MSM, they noticed some cosmetic benefits: skin became
more supple, hair more lustrous with fewer split ends, and
nails which had been cracked or brittle became stronger and
healthier.
References:
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for publication)
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open label trial on the safety and efficacy of methylsulfonylmethane
in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis.” J Altern Complement
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Blum, J.M., Blum, R.I. “The effect of methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) in
the control of snoring.” Integrative Med 2004;3(6): 24–30.
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