Benefit for Georgetown Degenerated Discs from Pumpkin Leaves
This time of year, pumpkins are all over the place! We enjoy them for décor, but they offer so much more! News of late highlights the benefits of their leaves to slow disc degeneration and even possibly encourage regeneration. That is news to your Georgetown chiropractor’s ear…and without doubt to our Georgetown back pain and neck pain patients’ ears, too!
THE DISC – Healthy and Degenerated
Many back pain treatment approaches focus on relieving the pain and returning function without a thought about how to reduce the speed of the degenerative process and/or encourage regeneration. The intervertebral disc has an inner core (nucleus pulposus) made of proteoglycans and a layered outer rim (annulus fibrosus) rich in collagen. Combined, these two act as a shock absorber and stabilizer for the spine. Treatment choices for the degenerated disc come from being aware of the processes that lead to degeneration so as to help ease discogenic pain more effectively. (1) Your chiropractor studies these mechanisms a lot!
PUMPKIN LEAVES AND CAROTENOIDS
It's recognized that pumpkin products and by-products (like leaves!) contain major carotenoids - β-carotene, α-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin – with β-carotene being the foremost one in most pumpkin types. The total content of carotenoids rests on many factors, one is the extraction procedure. Functional foods are advanced from carotenoids which are said to add significantly to the numerous health benefits of the foods. (2) Nutrition can plan a role in disc health. Let’s put our Georgetown pumpkins and their by-products to work for us!
PUMPKIN LEAVES AND COLLAGEN AND PROTEINS AND DISC CELLS
A unique way to put pumpkins to work for us is well explained in a recent study about how the leaves of pumpkins may help. The acetone extract from Violina pumpkin (curcurbita moshata) leaves induced a significant rise in extracellular matrix components like aggrecan and collagen type II as well as other proteins and stress response regulators in the degenerated intervertebral disc cells taken from degenerated disc tissues of spinal surgery patients. Markers noting the presence and activity of stem cells were significantly higher, too. This news excited the researchers to state that the hypothesis about how adequate stimuli can support resident cells to repopulate the degenerated discs was thereby reinforced. The report overall determined that data point to the breakthrough that molecules may effectively reduce disc degeneration using a part of the pumpkin that most of us throw in the trash as waste – the leaves! (3) Dr. Butwell bets you’ll look at the pumpkin leaves differently this season!
CONTACT Dr. Butwell
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates how nutrition may decelerate and possibly stop degeneration and stimulate regeneration via ingredients like chondroitin sulfate based on years of research done already and how nutrition in combination with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management reduce and manage spine pain. We’ll keep watching the pumpkin leaves’ research as it grows!
Make your Georgetown chiropractic appointment today to visit us this pumpkin season!
