New Site for Bios Life Slim

A friend of mine just launched a new website a Rocket Slim. Be sure to check it out.

Bios Life Slim

Hey Guys,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Please check out our new blog at Bios Life Slim. In addition, please check out our Bios Life Slim Information page too. Check out this Bios Life Slim website too.

Best wishes,

The Bios Life Blog

Bios Life, Cholesterol and Menopause

Hey Guys,

I just found a great blog from a fellow Bios Life franchisee. His blog covers numerous topics including Bios Life, cholesterol and menopause. Check it out – Menopause Risks

Anne Collins Diet Program

I just wanted to thank Anne Collins for creating a terrific diet program. It’s the best value weight loss program I’ve seen, and it comes with a support forum. Check it out – AC Weight Loss Diet

She also has a program for people with high cholesterol. Visit her website for more information.

Bios Life Complete – Cloyce M

I am a family physician certified in Preventative Health, Occupational Medicine and Bariatric Medicine. I was a flight surgeon, flying in F-16’s and F-15’s in the Kansas Air National Guard. I was also a Clinical Associate Professor with University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine and Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. I am currently a member of the Ethics Committee of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians.

In several cases of hereditary hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol and triglycerides), I have seen cholesterol decrease over 300 points and triglycerides over 500 points in one month with Bios Life 2. My own cholesterol went from 221 to 177 in 30 days and my current cardiac risk ratio is 2. 7 (below 4. 0 is good).

With BiosLife2’s niacin bound chromium, I have helped diabetics get off 70-120 units of Insulin per day. My cholesterol was in the so-called normal range and I was able to lower the LDL 21 points which changed my risk factor significantly. My risk ratio is below normal range now, with no change in my exercise or diet otherwise.

The matrix of fibers in Bios Life 2 definitely changed my risk of developing the number-one killer in the United Sates. As a pathologist, I studied the effects of cholesterol on our arteries and the scientific evidence is clear that we can make changes in our risk by using Bios Life® 2 daily.

Cloyce M., M.D.

Bios Life Success Story – Harold

In October 2000 my triglycerides were 1,639 mg/dl and TC 495 mg/dl. After using Bios Life 2, my triglycerides are 137 mg/dl and my TC is 167 mg/dl. Aboriginal Gold: My surgical hands were cracked and painful but using Dr. Berman’s Gold on my hands, total improvement has taken place and I had been under dermatologic care with multiple creams and ointments and NO success. Enrich and Thin: Super on my obese patients. I tried it at less than the optimal dose and lost 8 lbs in two weeks and I am 6 ft 186 lbs. C. M. Plex together with OsteoBasics has freed me of any joint problems. MenoBasics: My patients think is great and so “natural”.

Harold J S. , M. D., Physician/gynecologist

Lower Cholesterol and Improve Blood Sugar Levels with Bios Life

Lower Cholesterol, Improve Blood Sugar Levels, and Lose Weight While You Eat

How taking Bios Life anytime you’re hungry—and especially with meals—helps improve your health.

Let’s Conduct an Experiment

Part One
You won’t need your lab coat or goggles for this one:
Take a packet of Bios Life
Mix the Bios Life with about 8 ounces of water
Pour your mixture into a clear drinking glass

Now let it sit.

Five Minutes Later…
Now take a look at your glass of Bios Life. Tip the glass a little. See what’s happened? It’s thickened up, hasn’t it? It’s almost a little jelly-like. Don’t worry; it’s supposed to do that. In fact, if you drank that glass of Bios Life, that’s what it would be doing in your stomach.

Why Does it do That?
What you’re seeing is one of the unique strengths of Bios Life—you’re seeing the foundation of Bios Life called Biosphere Fiber, a patented blend of five highly soluble fibers. As Biosphere Fiber comes in contact with liquid it absorbs the liquid and becomes a gel.

The five soluble fibers in the Biosphere Fiber matrix were carefully researched and chosen for their ability to create the most effective fiber combination possible in the stomach and digestive system—much more effective when blended together than if they were used individually.

How Does it Work?
Biosphere Fiber lowers serum cholesterol by reducing the absorption of cholesterol in the food you’re eating. In addition, this fiber complex absorbs bile acids, which are the compounds manufactured by the liver from cholesterol that are necessary for the proper digestion of fat.

After absorbing the bile acids, the compounds are removed from circulation and don’t make it back to the liver. As a result, the liver must use up additional cholesterol to manufacture new bile acids. Bile acids are necessary for normal digestion of fat. Biosphere Fiber may also reduce the amount of cholesterol manufactured by the liver.

Part Two
Now drop small pieces of food into your glass of Bios Life. Pieces of breakfast cereal, a bit of banana or apple, what ever you have on hand would work. (Remember, that food that actually makes it to our stomach and the waiting Bios Life has usually been chewed up and mixed with saliva).

Watch What Happens…
The bits of food slowly sink into the glass, becomes blanketed with Bios Life. In reality, the churning motion of the stomach would guarantee that what you eat becomes mixed up and coated with Bios Life.

As Bios Life coats your food, it prevents sugar from entering your system too fast. Normally, sugar gives you a momentary boost in energy—followed by a lapse of energy, and usually causes you to crave more sugar in order to boost your energy again. Without Bios Life you submit yourself to a rollercoaster sensation of energy and then exhaustion. The soluble fiber in Bios Life acts as a “time release” agent for the sugars found in your food.

Beyond the Experiment

What Else Was in that Glass?
Bios Life contains much more than just Biosphere Fiber. In your stomach and digestive tract, other key ingredients in Bios Life go to work full-throttle. Bios Life turbo charges the Biosphere Fiber by including calcium carbonate in the ingredients in order to make the five-fiber matrix even more effective.

Upon contact with the acidic environment of the stomach, the calcium carbonate starts to release carbon dioxide. This bubbling disperses the fiber matrix quickly through the gastric fluid. As a result, the Biosphere Fiber matrix is formed quickly and efficiently. This aspect of Bios Life is patented. Consequently, no other fiber products can combine soluble fiber with mineral carbonates.
But Wait, There’s More…
Next is chromium. According to new research at Harvard, those with low levels of chromium in their systems are significantly more likely to develop heart problems. Chromium helps to stabilize blood sugar levels in the body. Bios Life contains a patented chromium polynicotinate, or niacin-bound chromium, called ChromeMate® which is the most easily absorbed chromium for the body.

In addition, Bios Life contains vitamins B-6 and B-12. This vitamin B complex is known to boost the immune system and to aid in the breakdown of fat.

Fighting Cholesterol with Phytosterols
In order to be most effective in controlling cholesterol levels, Bios Life has included three types of potent phytosterols: b-sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol. Phytosterols are a chemical found in plants. Technically speaking, phytosterols are cholesterol analogs, which means they have similar functions but different origins. Phytosterols are picked up by these proteins instead of cholesterol, which allows the cholesterol to be passed out of the body and not absorbed into the bloodstream.

The Sweet Addition of Policosanol
Policosanol, an ingredient in Bios Life that originates from sugarcane, has been shown to inhibit an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase—one of the enzymes involved in cholesterol synthesis. Policosanol is in fact a highly effective, all-natural statin—without the potential dangerous side-effects of prescription statins.

Stop and Smell the Chrysanthemums
It was our own Unicity Research and Development that discovered that a water extract of chrysanthemum morifolium energizes an enzyme called 7-alpha hydroxylase. 7-alpha hydroxylase takes cholesterol out of your system and converts it to cholic acid—a form of bile acid. Chrysanthemum morifolium extract is like giving the 7-alpha hydroxylase enzymes an energy drink that make them work twice as hard. As a result, more cholesterol is taken from your body’s storage and converted into cholic acid—thus reducing the total amount of cholesterol in your body.

Click here to buy Bios Life Complete

Bios Life Complete Mechanism 2

Bios Life Complete Mechanism 2. Preventing absorption of cholesterol from the diet using phytosterols.

Phytosterols are biomolecules that are present in plants. The first part of the name originates from the Greek word “phuton” which means plant. The second part of the name “sterol” refers to a chemical structure that is defined as a cyclopentanophenantrine ring structure of cholesterol plus an alcohol group. Phytosterols have different function in plants, but for us the most important aspect is that these molecules have a similar chemical structure to that one of cholesterol. There are two main types of phytosterols: sterols and stanols. The two types of phytosterols differ only in the presence of a double carbon-carbon bonding in the molecular structure. Some of the most common phytosterols are sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol. The phytosterol content of some common foods is listed in Table 1.

Food

Phytosterols (mg/100 g edible portion)

Corn oil

952

Sunflower oil

725

Safflower oil

444

Soybean oil

221

Olive oil

176

Almonds

143

Beans

76

Corn

70

Wheat

69

Palm oil

49

Lettuce

38

Banana

16

Apple

12

Tomato

7

It was discovered several decades ago that when phytosterols from soy beans were added to the diet of chicks, the level of cholesterol in the blood was reduced. [13] Since then, many studies have been performed to find out the mechanism by which phytosterols lower cholesterol. The mechanism by which cholesterol is lowered is most likely inhibition of cholesterol absorption in the intestinal tract. There are two sources of cholesterol in the digestive tract: our diet, and bile acids. The diet is responsible for roughly 300 mg per day of cholesterol, whereas biliary cholesterol adds about 1000 mg per day to the intestinal mix. [14] Studies in people using test meals show that about 55% of cholesterol is absorbed from the intestinal tract. [15]

Cholesterol is poorly soluble in water (those of us who have been using Bios Life for some time know this). [16, 17] The transport of cholesterol in the digestive tract towards the small intestine, where actual absorption takes place, is therefore mediated by micelles. [18, 19] Micelles are spherical shapes of fatty acids and or phospholipids that are hydrophilic (water liking) on the outside, and lipophilic (fat-liking) on the inside. In this way, the micelles can travel through the water phase of the intestinal contents, but transport fat soluble molecules, such as cholesterol, in the inside of the sphere. The micelles containing the cholesterol is then transported down in the intestinal tract until it reaches the brush border membranes where the cholesterol can be absorbed into the mucosa. The brush border membrane is a collective term for the surfaces of the epithelial cells lining the cavity of the small intestine, which is studded with microvilli, that enlarge the absorptive surface of the cells. Once the cholesterol has reached the brush border membrane it is absorbed by the mucosa. There are several theories describing the exact mechanism by which this is happening. One long standing hypothesis suggests that cholesterol absorption is an energy-independent passive diffusion process in which micellar cholesterol is in equilibrium with free cholesterol in solution. This theory would mean that there is no active transport mechanism involved in cholesterol transport into the intestinal cells, but that the cholesterol simply travels through the cell membranes because there is a concentration gradient present. [20, 21] The uptake of cholesterol in this mechanism is regulated by so-called ATP binding cassette transporters that return cholesterol back into the intestinal tract, once too much cholesterol has been absorbed, thereby maintaining a balance in absorption and return of cholesterol. [22]

The second theory for cholesterol uptake is through cholesterol transport proteins. These proteins serve as a cholesterol receptor and actively shuttle cholesterol inside the intestinal cells. They are selective for cholesterol, because the proteins have a domain (part of the protein structure) that recognizes the molecular structure of cholesterol. [23-25] After the cholesterol is absorbed by the intestinal cells it is converted into lipoproteins, such as HDL (high-density lipoprotein), and LDL (low-density lipoprotein), in the intestinal cells, before being released into blood circulation.

How do phytosterols lower cholesterol in the blood? The phytosterols reduce the absorption of animal cholesterol in the digestive tract by 30 − 50 % when the phytosterols are administered at maximum dosages. [26-28] The similar organic structure of phytosterols as of cholesterol, is the key to this effect. Phytosterols can take the place of cholesterol in the above-described mechanisms, because they are able to fool the body, and make it think it is dealing with cholesterol. First of all, phytosterols compete with cholesterol in incorporation in the micelles that transport cholesterol down the intestinal tract. The micelles are more likely to include phytosterols in the spheres than cholesterol, [29-31] because this choice costs less energy. [32] If that is happening, the real cholesterol is left out, and will not reach the brush border membrane, where the actual absorption is taking place. The second site for phytosterol interference is the transport proteins. The receptor part of the protein recognizing the molecular structure of cholesterol will also interact with phytosterols. The proteins, however, can not absorb these phytosterols, and are therefore occupied dealing with phytosterols when the real cholesterol comes along. In such, the total absorption of cholesterol is lower.

These mechanisms make dietary inhibition an interesting target for cholesterol lowering. In earlier times, this may well have been one of the mechanisms why our ancestors had no problem with high cholesterol. It is very likely that they consumed large amounts of phytosterols, because their diet was mostly plant based. [33]

Since the discovery of the cholesterol lowering effects of phytosterols many interventional studies have been performed to investigate to which extend they can lower cholesterol. Table 2 describes the trials that have been performed using phytosterols in monotherapy to lower cholesterol in the period 2000 − 2006. The search terms in Pubmed were a combination of “phytosterols” and “cholesterol” with the limit set on “clinical trial”. This table of results does not discuss the difference between sterols and stanols, and combines both types of sterols under the same group. Also, several studies evaluated the effect of multiple dosage levels of phytosterols on serum lipids. Of those studies only one representative dose was listed.

Author, year

n

Amount of phytosterols

Study duration

Δ TC (%)

Δ LDL (%)

Jakulj, 2005[34]

40

2 grams in spread

4 weeks

-4.7

O’Neill, 2005[35]

TBC

1.6 grams per day

TBC

TBC

McPherson, 2005[36]

52

1.26 grams per day

6 weeks

-10.4

Lau, 2005[37]

14

1.8 grams per day

3 weeks

-15.1

Lau, 2005[37]

15 diabetics

1.8 grams per day

3 weeks

-26.8

Varady, 2004[38]

21

TBC

8 weeks

-8.2

Noakes, 2005[39]

39

2.0 grams per day in yoghurt

3 weeks

-7

-9

Amundsen, 2004[40]

37 children

1.2 grams per day in spread

26 weeks

-9.1

-11.4

Amundsen, 2004[40]

20

1.5 grams per day in spread

26 weeks

-9.1

-11.0

Thomson, 2004 [41]

71

1.2 grams per day in milk

12 weeks

-7.1

Thomson, 2004 [41]

71

1.6 grams per day in milk

12 weeks

-9.6

Clifton, 2004 [42]

58

1.6 grams per day in milk

3 weeks

-8.7

-15.9

Clifton, 2004 [42]

58

1.6 grams per day in yoghurt

3 weeks

-5.6

-8.6

Clifton, 2004 [42]

58

1.6 grams per day in bread

3 weeks

-6.5

Clifton, 2004 [42]

58

1.6 grams per day in cereal

3 weeks

-5.4

Devaraj, 2004[43]

72

2.0 grams per day in orange juice

8 weeks

-7.2

-12.4

Kozlowska, 2003[44]

42

TBC grams per day in spread

TBC

-11.0

Quilez, 2003[45]

28

3.2 grams in bakery products

8 weeks

-8.9

-14.7

Seki, 2004[46]

60

0.45 grams per day in vegetable oil

12 weeks

-10.3

TBC

De Jong, 2003[47]

41 children

2.3 grams per day in spread

4 weeks

-11.0

-14.0

Hendriks, 2003[48]

185

1.6 grams per day in spread

1 year

-4.0

-6.0

Ketomaki, 2003[49]

23 children

TBC grams per day in spread

5 weeks

-9.0

-12.0

Homma, 2003[50]

34

2 grams per day in spread

4 weeks

-6.5

-9.6

Homma, 2003[50]

36

3 grams per day in spread

4 weeks

-5.5

-7.3

Lee, 2003 [51]

85

1.6 grams per day in spread

4 weeks

-5.2

-6.8

Cleghorn, 2003[52]

50

2.0 grams per day in spread

4 weeks

-8.9

-12.3

Tammi, 2002[53]

45 boys

TBC grams per day in spread

3 months

-6.0

-9.0

Tammi, 2002[53]

36 girls

TBC grams per day in spread

3 months

-4.0

-6.0

Vanstone, 2002[54]

15

1.8 grams per day

TBC weeks

-7.8

-11.3

De Graaf, 2002[55]

70

1.8 grams per day in chocolate

4 weeks

-6.4

-10.3

Geelen, 2002[56]

31

3.2 grams per day in spread

3 weeks

-7.4

-12.2

Lottenberg, 2002[57]

60

1.68 grams per day in spread

4 weeks

-10.0

-12.0

Amundsen, 2002[58]

38 children

1.6 grams per day in spread

8 weeks

-7.4

-10.2

Temme, 2002[59]

42

1.6 grams per day in spread

4 weeks

-7.0

-10.0

Judd, 2002[60]

53

3.6 grams per day in dressing

TBC weeks

-9.7

Mussner, 2002[61]

63

1.82 grams per day in spread

3 weeks

-3.4

-5.4

Nestel, 2001[62]

22

2.4 grams per day in spread

4 weeks

-13.6

Mensink, 2002[63]

60

3 grams per day in yoghurt

3 weeks

-13.7

Christiansen, 2001[64]

155

1.5 grams per day

6 month

-7.5

-11.6

Maki, 2001[65]

40

2.2 grams per day

5 weeks

-6.6

-8.1

Hallikainen, 2000[66]

34

2.04 grams per day in spread

4 weeks

-9.2

-12.7

Plat, 2000[67]

39

2.5 grams per day

4 weeks

TBC

TBC

Hallikainen, 2000[68]

22

3.0 grams per day in spread

4 weeks

-11.3

-10.4

The results listed in Table 2 provide a clear case for the cholesterol lowering effects of phytosterols. Although various dosages have been studied over various study periods, a fair conclusion is that phytosterols lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol with about 5 − 12 % over a period of several weeks. These consistent positive results of phytosterols have lead to the conclusion at the Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) that products containing at least 1.3 grams of phytosterols per daily dose may carry a qualified health claim. Considering the fact that the FDA currently allows only a handful of those qualified health claims to be made, the case of phytosterols in cholesterol lowering is considered strong.

Bios Life Complete Mechanism 1

Bios Life Complete Mechanism 1: Bile Acid Sequestration by soluble fiber.

Fat from our meal is being digested in our intestinal system using bile and bile acids. Bile is being elaborated by the liver. It contains bile acids, cholesterol, lecithin, and bile pigments, which are all synthesized by the liver cells. The bile is secreted into the bile duct that leads directly into the digestive tract. About 250 ml to 1500 ml of bile is secreted per day into the digestive tract. In the periods between meals, bile is diverted into the gall bladder. The gallbladder concentrates bile by removal of salt and water from the stored bile, resulting in a 5 to 20-fold concentration of the bile acids. Bile acids in the intestinal tract emulsify lipids, thereby increasing the surface area available to fat digesting enzymes, called lipases. After their function, bile acids are actively recycled by re-absorption in the terminal part of the small intestine. A small fraction of bile acids escapes absorption, and is excreted. The returning bile acids are avidly taken up by the liver and are rapidly re-secreted during the course of digestion.

The primary bile acid is cholic acid, which is synthesized in the liver using cholesterol as a building block. Therefore the cholesterol pool that is available in the body is being utilized to synthesize bile. Since most bile is re-absorbed and re-utilized, the total amount of cholesterol is not changed due to the bile synthesis. In other words, if it would be possible to prevent the re-absorption of bile acids into the blood stream from the intestinal tract, a mechanism to lower cholesterol in the body would have been identified. This is exactly what soluble fiber accomplishes in our body.

Fiber is referred to as a mixture of polysaccharides that is present in almost all vegetables and fruits in our diet. Fiber is present in the cells and skins of fruits and vegetables. It is also a part of the park of trees. There are two kinds of fiber: soluble and insoluble fiber. The soluble fraction of the fiber is known to have the cholesterol lowering effect. Examples are soluble fibers are guar gum, pectin, and beta-glucans. When the dissolved fibers reach the intestinal tract they start to gel, because of the acidic environment of the stomach. The gel is known to trap the bile acids in the intestinal tract, preventing them from being reabsorbed. When the gel matrix is being excreted from the intestines, the bile acids go along with it. Since bile acids are made from cholesterol, removal of bile acids from the body will reduce the total level of cholesterol.

Not every fiber mixture is equally effective in lowering cholesterol. Bios Life Complete comprises of a unique fiber mixture, combined with calcium carbonate that has premium bile acid sequestration properties. This combination is patented under the US patents 4,883,788 and 4,824,672. These patents describe and protect the invention of combining soluble fiber with calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate generates carbon dioxide when it reaches the acids in the stomach. This bubbling of CO2 promotes the dissolving and dispersion of the soluble fiber in the intestinal tract. This makes the gel matrix larger and faster formed, so that bile acid sequestration is more effective than by other fiber mixtures. BiosLifeTM Complete includes a combination of different soluble fibers, namely guar gum, gum Arabic, locust bean gum, pectin, and oat fiber.

The American Heart Association recognizes the importance of soluble fiber as well. This institute has advised that every adult should consume at least 30 grams of fiber day. Sadly, the average American Diet only contains about 12 grams of fiber.

The cholesterol lowering potential of soluble fiber has been proven many times in peer-reviewed publications. [1-11] Unicity has performed several clinical studies with the fiber mixture of BiosLifeTM Complete itself. In 2002 a clinical study with BiosLifeTM 2 was performed by Dennis Sprecher of the Cleveland Clinic. [8] One hundred and nineteen patients received either BiosLifeTM 2 or placebo. Fasting lipid (cholesterol), glucose, and homocysteine concentrations, and body mass index (BMI) were obtained at baseline and weeks 4 and 8. The group using BiosLifeTM 2 showed a reduction of 7.1% in LDL cholesterol after 4 weeks, which was maintained at 8 weeks with a reduction of 7.9 %. Placebo patients had a slight increase in LDL-C values over the same period resulting in a 10.3% difference between groups. Interestingly, two other parameters that are being used to assess the risk for heart disease, apoprotein B and homocysteine were also positively influenced. The total amounts of LDL reduction in this study are reduced somewhat since all subject participating in this trial had first followed a low-fat diet for several weeks. The company has also performed other clinical studies with BiosLifeTM 2, including a study in the Philippines and two studies in type-2 diabetics.

CM Plex and Arthritis

As Many as 1 in 3 Adults Currently Suffers from Symptoms of Arthritis
Could you be one of them?

Arthritis isn’t just one disease—it’s a complex disorder that comprises more than 100 distinct conditions and can affect people at any stage of life.

Two of the most common forms are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
These 2 forms have very different causes, risk factors, and effects on the body, yet they often share a common symptom—persistent joint pain. The joint pain of arthritis can appear as hip, knee, hand, or wrist pain, as well as joint pain in other areas of the body.

Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis in the United States, affecting an estimated 21 million adults. OA begins with the breakdown of joint cartilage, resulting in pain and stiffness.

OA commonly affects the joints of the fingers, knees, hips, and spine. Other joints affected less frequently include the wrists, elbows, shoulders, and ankles. When OA is found in a less-frequently affected joint, there is usually a history of injury or unusual stress to that joint.
Work-related repetitive injury and physical trauma may contribute to the development of OA. For example, if you have a strenuous job that requires repetitive bending, kneeling, or squatting, you may be at high risk for OA of the knee.

What are the Symptoms of Osteoarthritis?
The most common symptoms of OA include:

* Steady or intermittent pain in a joint
* Stiffness after periods of inactivity, such as sleeping or sitting
* Swelling or tenderness in 1 or more joints
* Crunching feeling or sound of bone rubbing on bone (called crepitus) when the joint is used

OA usually comes on slowly. Early in the disease, joints may ache after physical work or exercise.

What Causes Osteoarthritis?
Although the exact cause of OA is not known, some scientists believe that joint damage begins in response to physical stress such as an injury or repetitive movement.

Also known as “wear and tear,” this stress can erode the cartilage that normally encases the ends of the bones in a joint. Cartilage serves to cushion the bones and to help the joint move smoothly and easily.
As cartilage breaks down, the ends of the bones thicken and the joint may lose its normal shape. With further cartilage breakdown, the ends of the bones may begin to rub together causing pain. In addition, damaged joint tissue can cause the release of certain substances called prostaglandins, which can also contribute to the pain and swelling characteristic of the disease.

Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can affect many different joints and, in some people, other parts of the body as well, including the blood, the lungs, and the heart.

Inflammation of the joint lining, called the synovium, can cause pain, stiffness, swelling, warmth, and redness. The affected joint may also lose its shape, resulting in loss of normal movement. RA can last a long time and can be a disease of flares (active symptoms) and remissions (few to no symptoms).
RA affects 2.1 million Americans, or about 1% of the adult population in the United States. This disease is 2 to 3 times more common in women than in men. Also, although it generally affects people between the ages of 20 and 50, it can also affect young children through a form of RA called Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.

What are the Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Symptoms of RA differ from person to person but can generally include:

* Joint tenderness, warmth, and swelling. Both sides of the body are usually affected at the same time. This is also called a “symmetrical pattern” of inflammation. For example, if one knee is affected, the other one is also affected. This is in contrast to osteoarthritis, where it is possible for only one knee to be affected
* Pain and stiffness lasting for more than 1 hour in the morning or after a long rest
* Joint inflammation in the wrist and finger joints closest to the hand (although joints of the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles, and feet can be affected as well)
* Fatigue, an occasional fever, and a general sense of not feeling well (called malaise).
* Symptoms that last for an extended period of time
* Symptoms in other parts of the body, not just in the joints

RA causes inflammation of the joint lining which can lead to pain, swelling, stiffness, and loss of function. It also can cause inflammation of your tear glands, salivary glands, the lining of your heart and lungs, and the lungs themselves.

What Causes Rheumatoid Arthritis?
RA is an autoimmune disease. This means the body’s natural immune system does not operate as it should; it attacks healthy joint tissue, initiating a process of inflammation and joint damage.

The exact cause of RA is not yet known, although scientists do know that many factors may contribute to the development of RA. Hereditary factors play a role. Scientists have shown certain genes that play a role in the immune system may be involved in determining whether or not you develop RA. However, some people with RA do not have these particular genes, and other people who do have the genes never develop the disease.

Environmental factors may also contribute to the cause of the disease. Researchers have found that RA can be triggered by an infection, possibly a virus or bacterium, in people who have an inherited tendency for the disease. However, RA is not contagious—you can’t “catch it” from anyone.

Discover the Freedom to Move Again
Unicity’s CM Plex supports joint health with a proprietary blend of cetyl myristate, cetyl myristoleate, and other carefully developed cetyl ester compounds proven to help penetrate and hydrate joints and increase mobility, encouraging a more active lifestyle.

CM Plex is available in both cream and softgels. The cream and softgels work together—the cream provides additional moisturizing benefits, while the softgels offer additional ingredients for internalized nutritional support.

Click here to purchase