Benefit for Carrolltown Degenerated Discs from Pumpkin Leaves
Every year around this time, pumpkins are all over the place! We like them for décor, but they offer so much more! News of late focuses on the benefits of their leaves to reduce the speed of disc degeneration and even possibly support regeneration. That’s news to your Carrolltown chiropractor’s ear…and without doubt to our Carrolltown 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 addressinga way 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. Together, 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 precede degeneration so as to help ease discogenic pain more effectively. (1) Your chiropractor studies these mechanisms all the time!
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 main one in most pumpkin varieties. The total content of carotenoids depends on a variety of factors, one being the extraction process. Functional foods are developed 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. Pumpkin and its by-products should not just be thrown away!
PUMPKIN LEAVES AND COLLAGEN AND PROTEINS AND DISC CELLS
A unique way to put pumpkins to work for us is described in a recent study about how the leaves of pumpkins may help. The acetone extract from Violina pumpkin (curcurbita moshata) leaves generated a significant increase in extracellular matrix components like aggrecan and collagen type II in addition to other proteins and stress response regulators in the degenerated intervertebral disc cells removed from degenerated disc tissues of spinal surgery patients. Markers noting the presence and activity of stem cells were significantly higher, too. This news motivated the researchers to declare that the hypothesis about how adequate stimuli can support resident cells to repopulate the degenerated discs was thus sustained. The report overall determined that data point to the discovery of molecules that may effectively reduce disc degeneration using a part of the pumpkin that most of us get rid of as waste – the leaves! (3) Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation bets you’ll look at the pumpkin leaves differently this season!
CONTACT Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes how nutrition may slow and possibly avert degeneration and promote regeneration via ingredients like chondroitin sulfate based on years of research done already and how nutrition combined 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 Carrolltown chiropractic appointment today to see us this pumpkin season!
