Collagen type II STUDY RESULTS

by Alex Duarte, O.D., Ph.D.

At Harvard University School of Medicine, Dr. David Trentham and his colleagues gave very small doses of solubilized collagen type II to 10 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These patients had all immunosuppressive drugs and anti-inflammatories such as methotrexate and mercaptopurine removed before they took the collagen type II.

Patients took small doses of collagen type II for one month and then increased the dosage for two months thereafter. The dosage was determined through the various animal studies that had determined specific concentrations.

The clinical response was defined as a 50% or greater improvement in the number of swollen and tender joints, accompanied by a 50% or greater improvement in two additional measures (morning stiffness, 15 meter walking time, grip strength, Westergren erythrocyte sedimentation rate, or physician global assessment), lasting for at least two months after the treatment period.

SIXTY PERCENT of the patients showed substantial clinical response and one patient showed a complete response in which the disease was totally eliminated for 26 months. More importantly, there were absolutely no side effects.

These results were so profound that a 90 day, double blind, phase two study was conducted on 60 patients with very severe, active rheumatoid arthritis. It's important to note that these patients were not beginning or moderate cases, but the most severe cases that can be usually encountered.

Patients either received the solubilized type II collagen or a placebo. (A placebo is a non-active type II collagen look-alike). The concentration was equivalent to that in the first study.

At the end of the study, 59 of the 60 patients were evaluated. Twenty-eight had received the collagen type II and 31 had received the placebo.

Compared to the placebo group, the collagen type II group showed significant improvements in joint swelling, tenderness or pain. This also included the degree of swelling and tenderness together. The doctors evaluated the response in a 15 meter walking time at months one, two and three. During the period at which the patients were taken off immunosuppressant drugs, those that received the collagen type II show stability and/or even improvement while those in the placebo group tended to deteriorate. However, four of the patients in the placebo group did show a significant placebo effect.

Four patients in the collagen type II group went into the next realm of the almost unbelievable, and showed a complete resolution of the disease. That is correct. You have read this material correctly. These people no longer had symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. It must be understood that no patients in the placebo group showed remission. No side effects or negative laboratory effects were seen during the study.

The Harvard Study was sponsored by Autoimmune, a Lexington, Massachusetts biotechnology company. Only highly purified chicken sternal collagen type II was used.

This report from the book entitled "The Collagen Type II Cure for Arthritis and Heart Disease", by Alex Duarte, O.D., Ph.D. Published October 1997, ISBN # 1-891036-11-4

The total without a response of less pain in forty-five days was three or appox. 10.1% and only one placebo subject recorded a response in forty-five days.

Side effects - Only one subject had nausea. It was noted that he was on other medications as well.

CONCLUSION

Collagen Type II treatment had a significant effect on subjective pain syndromes. Most subjects responded to Collagen Type II in the first 21 days of the trial. Many of these pained subjects had previously been on long-term, pharmaceutical treatment programs. Many subjects responded by initiating life style changes due to lack of pain. Many were excited by the increase in their daily activity. The results have prompted the authors to develop specific disease/pain syndrome trials in the near future.

AUTHORS

Drs. K. Buckman; J. Gutierrez; et. al

FROM Bill Phillips Supplement Review

Over the past few years, scientists have been exploring the possibility that supplementing Collagen Type II may actually help arthritic patients slow the progression of their disease or even halt it. To test this theory, researchers at Harvard Medical School supplemented the diets of arthritic patients with a type of purified Collagen Type II for 3 months. What this study seemed to indicate is that Collagen supplementation significantly reduced swelling and joint pain. Now, some experts have speculated that Collagen Type II may also help prevent the degeneration of joints that occurs with weight-training exercise and have suggested that supplementing your diet with Collagen Type II may actually allow you to build healthier joints.