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Infinity² Technical Bulletin!
Enzymes for Athletic Injuries!
Written by Stan Bynum
Current Practices
One of the most widely recognized problems in rehabilitation
therapeutics is the need for an effective non-toxic aid to control
inflammation caused by athletic injuries. The ideal therapeutic
aid in such cases should accelerate both the rate of recovery
from the injury and the reduction of the pain phase of the inflammatory
process which results from the tissue damage of the injury.
In current sports injury therapeutics, the most popular aids
to recovery are non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID).
By inhibiting various natural physiological mechanisms, these
NSAID agents tend to reduce the immediate inflammatory response
and, thus allow the athlete to enter a physical therapy program
more rapidly. However, there are some serious concerns over the
current widespread use of NSAID's including serious gastrointestinal
side effects (The common saying among athletes is "those
pills tear up your stomach.") and the very real possibility
that by inhibiting natural physiological processes, the NSAIDs
actually slow down recovery from injury.
An Attractive Alternative
Of increasing current interest in sports medicine are the possibilities
offered by proteolytic enzymes to accelerate the recovery process.
Proteolytic enzymes offer a possible alternative to the present
extensive use of NSAIDs. The mode of action of these enzymatically
active agents appears to be that they rapidly hydrolyze the waste
products which collect in the injured tissue and, thus, facilitate
both removal of these waste products and improved access of natural
healing agents to the tissue. There are a number of inherent advantages
afforded by this approach, including (1) proteolytic enzymes tend
to enhance, rather than suppress, physiological mechanisms, thus,
improving the possibility of true recovery from the injury, (2)
except for pre-existing conditions, such as ulcer or gastritis,
proteolytic enzymes do not produce negative gastrointestinal side
effects (by enhancing protein digestion, they may actually be
beneficial to the GI tract), and (3) enzymes in general, are rapidly
degraded and, thus, do not pose a threat in terms of long-term
toxic build-up.
European Practices
Proteolytic enzymes have been investigated for several decades.
In spite of this, the progress of the investigation and use of
this very promising approach in the United States has been very
slow, although isolated reports from several investigators have
been generally highly favorable.1-5 It is suspected by many observers
that this slow progress may have much more to do with economics
than efficacy since the proteolytic enzymes generally fall into
the category of naturally-occurring substances for which it is
difficult to obtain patents and thereby, achieve market protection.
This makes for an unattractive situation for pharmaceutical firms,
which are the most frequent sponsors of medical research into
new therapeutic agents.
However, this has not been the case in Europe, where the conditions
under which the medical community operates are considerably different.
In European countries, particularly Germany, the use of enzymes
as anti-inflammatory agents is very prevalent, especially in applications
involving sports injuries. Scientific investigation of the use
of enzymes as aids to recovery from sports injuries has been very
active as well.
Bruise Healing
For example, Dr. M. W. Kleine and his co-workers at the Sports
Medicine Investigation Center in Grunwald, Germany conducted a
study of the effectiveness of proteolytic enzymes on 100 athletes.
In this study, two cubic centimeters of blood were removed from
the anticubital vein of each subject and injected under the skin
of the inside of the right forearm to artificially produce a hematoma.
Half of the subjects then took anti-inflammatory enzymes and half
took a placebo, each three times daily. The results were measured
in terms of amount of pain, pain caused by pressure and rapidity
of disappearance of the hematoma.
The findings were convincing. The success rate was evaluated
as "good" by 70% of the enzyme-treated subjects, and
by only 14% of those treated with a placebo. In other words, the
enzyme-treated subjects felt less pain, less pain on pressure,
the pain caused by pressure disappeared sooner, and the visible
hematoma disappeared much sooner. 6
Injury Prevention
In another double blind study involving preventive treatment,
20 karate fighters were divided into groups of ten each, with
one group receiving enzymes and the other a placebo. After each
subject had engaged in competition during which they received
bruises, each was examined daily to determine the healing rate
of the bruises.
The results were impressive. The athletes treated proplylactically
with enzymes suffered hematomas which disappeared within seven
days, while the athletes who received no enzymes required 16 days
for the same results.
Surgery Preparation and Recovery
In another study on the use of enzymes to treat the effects of
injuries, a surgeon who specializes in the removal of torn meniscus
tissue from injured knee joints conducted a double-blind study
in which a group of his patients received enzymes before surgery
to reduce swelling. A matching group was given a placebo. The
average time required for the subsidence of swelling in preparation
for surgery for the enzyme-treated group was 17 days, while the
placebo group required 24 days for the swelling to subside sufficiently
to perform surgery.
Enzyme treatment also had a beneficial effect on post-surgery
recovery time. The hospital stay following surgery averaged eight
days for enzyme-treated patients, while the average hospital stay
for the patients without enzymes was 14 days.8
Growing Acceptance
As a result of these and many other clinical studies on using
enzyme preparations as an aid in preventing and healing injuries,
the interest in this powerful non-toxic method of treatment is
growing. This approach holds great promise for athletes, especially
those who are involved in injury-sensitive contact sports.
The most advanced proteolytic enzyme preparation currently available
is Cytolyse
introduced in 1994 by the Infinity² formulators. Using the
experience of several decades of enzyme technology, as well as
state-of-the-art nutrient delivery systems. Cytolyse achieves
even more impressive and dependable results than previous enzyme
formulas. The widespread use of this cutting-edge enzyme formula
promises to deliver a new level of safe relief from athletic injuries,
as well as many other forms of trauma.
References:
- Lie, K.K., et. al., "Therapeutic value of oral proteolytic
enzymes following hand surgery" Arch. Surgery, 98:103 (1969).
- Boyne, P.S. and Medhurst, H. "Oral anti-inflammatory
enzyme therapy in injuries in professional footballers."
The Practitioner. 1948:543 (1967).
- Dietrick, R.E., "Oral proteolytic enzymes in the treatment
of athletic injuries a double-blind study." The Penn. Med.
J.m 68:35 (1965).
- Woolf, R.M., "Resolution of an artificially induced hematoma
and the influence of a proteolytic enzyme." J. Trauma,
5:491 (1965).
- Sherr, S. and Fletcher, A.P. "Proteolytic enzymes: a
therapeutic evaluation." Clin. Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
1:202 (1961).
- Kleine, M.W. Vogler, W "The effects of an oral enzyme
treatment on experimentally induced hematomas" Forum Gen.
Pract. 2:27 (1968).
- Zuschlag, H. Study reported by Lopez, D.A., et. al. in Enzymes,
The Fountain Of Life. Neville Press, Charleston, SC, USA (1994).
- Rahn, H.D. "Hydrolytic enzymes as peri-operative and
edematous therapy in meniscectomy and fracture surgery"
Presented at AMS World Congress of Sports Medicine (1990).
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Enzymes
for Athletic Injuries!
