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Why shark cartilage? |
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For many years, scientists at Harvard, MIT, University of Miami, Columbia University and the Institut Jules Bordet of Brussels have studied the unique properties of cartilage. The earlier investigations were conducted with bovine (cattle) tracheal ring cartilage, which had two physical shortcomings. First, cattle have mostly a solid bone skeleton, with cartilage making up less than 0.6% of their total body weight. Second, the high level of fat in cattle cartilage requires a chemical to clean it. On the other hand, sharks' skeletons are all cartilage and make up 6-8% of their total body weight. Chemicals are not used in cleaning shark cartilage since its fat content is almost nonexistent.
Shark cartilage has an even greater advantage. Scientific teams at MIT determined that, while both cartilage sources contain a key element, its concentration in shark cartilage is 1,000 times greater than in bovine cartilage on a gram-for-gram basis.
Shark cartilage's greater volume, higher concentration of the key element and lack of fat make it the ideal source of cartilage's benefits.
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What are the special benefits of Cartilade's shark cartilage? |
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Shark cartilage is an excellent source of calcium and phosphorus and contains a family of carbohydrates called mucopolysaccharides. However, it's the key element that makes shark cartilage unique. And this element works synergistically with the other properties to extend their nutritional benefits.
The primary benefit of Cartilade's shark cartilage is that it's 100% pure shark cartilage with the potency of all its nutrients maintained in order to deliver maximum benefits. This is the result of the way Cartilade is made, its uniform specifications and the rigid quality control standards that were designed to maintain the product's integrity.
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Why are these facts important to you? |
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Consumer acceptance of Cartilade has made it a successful brand. As a result, some new shark cartilage brands are now available, claiming to be the equivalent of Cartilade. Before you consider one of them, ask the retailer about their manufacturing procedures, quality control standards, specifications and safety record. Once you compare the other brands to Cartilade, we're confident that you'll want the guaranteed purity and quality of Cartilade, the original and finest shark cartilage brand on the market
Therapeutic Benefits of Shark Cartilage
A Research Summary
I. William Lane, Ph.D. |
 Research on the health benefits of shark cartilage* is both voluminous and conclusive: Shark cartilage can be helpful in the treatment of many chronic and life-threatening disorders. These disorders - cancer, osteo and rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, lupus, eczema, enteritis, and others - have been shown to respond dramatically to orally-administered shark cartilage.
Shark Cartilage and Cancer
Sharks are unique among animals and fish in that "they almost never get cancer1". According to Dr. Carl Luer of Mote Marine Laboramries, one part of the shark's anatomy, its all-cartilage skeleton, appears to be a reason for this near immunity to cancer. A protein in the cartilaginous skeleton has been shown to inhibit the ability of a tumor to generate blood vessels needed to feed it.
Probably the first place to start with this link between sharks and cancer immunity is the work of Dr. Judah Folkman of Children's Hospital of Boston and Harvard University. Dr. Folkman is considered the pioneer in the study of angiogenesis inhibition and its impact on cancer treatment and other manifestations dependent upon new vascularization.
Angiogenesis inhibition can be best defined by dissecting the phrase to its Greek roots: Angio and genesis. Angio is Greek for "blood or lymph vessel" and genesis is Greek for "to originate or create". By adding the word inhibition, we have a descriptive phrase for a compound which prevents or reduces the growth of new blood vessels. As children, angiogenesis is a normal process. In adults, however, with a fully developed set of blood vessels, reactivated angiogenesis can have ominous consequences.
Dr. Folkman has shown that if a tumor mass cannot establish its own blood vessel network, "it stopped growing at a small size of 1 to 2 cubic mm, but resumed rapid growth when vascularization [angiogenesis] was permitted.2" Essentially, if you can prevent angiogenesis, the tumors never get established because they do not receive oxygen or nutrients and cannot allow for the removal of waste product. So, tumors never develop.
 The first real breakthrough in angiogenesis inhibition came through the work of another member of Dr. Folkman's team, Dr. Robert Langer, Ph.D. In an article published in the Journal Science, Dr. Langer, of MIT, found that "shark cartilage contains a substance that strongly inhibits the growth of new blood vessels toward solid tumors, thereby restricting tumor growth3". Dr Langer used tiny pellets of a shark cartilage extract placed next to grafts of tumors in the corneas of rabbits to see whether the growth of blood vessels would be restricted (Figure 1). The blood vessel development in the control (untreated) group is many times higher than in the treated group.
Therapeutic Benefits of Shark Cartilage (Page 2)
A Research Summary
I. William Lane, Ph.D. |
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This angiogenesis inhibition is known to be associated with a protein, which was found to be in concentrations 1,000 times higher in shark cartilage than in mammalian or bovine [cattle] cartilage.3
These results raise a couple of questions: Is this angiogenesis inhibition effect transferable to humans and mammals? And can it be administered in a convenient form? Optimally, taking shark cartilage in a capsule or tablet, rather than injections, would be the most convenient method to use this substance. The results of studies undertaken by Dr. G. Atassi, Ph.D., of Institut Jules Bordet in Brussels, Belgium, one of the largest and most prestigious cancer research center in Europe, showed oral administration to be effective.4
Nude mice (mice without immune systems and able to accept and grow human cancers) were grafted with human melanoma. After two days one group was given a dried shark cartilage powder orally (1200 mg/kg daily), the other (control) group was not. At 21 days, the tumors in the control group were growing geometrically while the growth rate of the treated group was nearly flat. This illustrates the relationship between angiogenesis and tumor growth.  Once the blood vessels are established, the tumors grow rapidly. Note the amount of growth in the last seven days. After 21 days, the tumors of the control group were 2.5 times their original size, while the treated group tumors were approximately 60% of their original size (Figure 2). Note the near perfect correlation between the results of Dr. Langer (Figure 1) and Dr. Atassi (Figure 2).
One valuable aspect of shark cartilage compared to other angiogenic inhibiting compounds is that it is not toxic. Other compounds that exhibit angiogenesis inhibition can cause significant side effects. In over seven years of research, no toxicity has been found through the use of shark cartilage. In fact, the Chinese have been consuming shark cartilage in the form of shark fin soup for hundreds of years.
Angiogenesis Inhibition, Metastasis and Tumor Regression
Another area where angiogenesis inhibition is cause for hope is the control of metastasis. Often, the location of the initial tumor is not necessarily life threatening. However, once a tumor establishes itself, it may throw off part of itself which enter blood vessels or the lymph system, and spread to vital organs and other tissue.
Patricia D'Amore, Ph.D., who works with Dr. Folkman at Children's Hospital and Harvard, has published the theory that "since vascularization is so clearly essential for the establishment and subsequent growth of metastasis, it seems equally obvious that inhibition of vascularization might be a way to prevent the formation of metastasis."
Moreover, angiogenesis inhibition may be an answer to tumor regression. Dr. Rakesh Jain, Ph.D., a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert on the physiology of tumors, explained in a recent paper published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute that the blood vessel network associated with tumors is usually weak and disorganized, necessitating constant renewal and replacement. By introducing angiogenesis inhibition, the prospects of reducing the size of existing tumors logically makes sense. Since the nourishment network to the tumor is not being replaced, it is starved for blood, and starts to die off.
Therapeutic Benefits of Shark Cartilage (Page 3)
A Research Summary
I. William Lane, Ph.D. |
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In conclusion, the angiogenesis inhibiting properties of shark cartilage appear to provide at least a key to future therapy. Anyone who has or is in high risk of developing cancer should look into this natural adjunct to their cancer treatments or prevention.
Other Anti-Cancer Activity of Shark Cartilage
Dr. Brian Durie, formerly with the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, using a series of in-yi@ro stem cell assays, showed shark cartilage to have anti-tumor activity apart from angiogenesis inhibition. A stem cell assay tests to see if a specific material has the ability to prevent the growth of various cancer stem cells. Researchers using this assay look for a minimum killing efficiency of 60% (40% survival) before a test product is worthy of further investigation.6
Dr. Durie found that an extract of shark cartilage of 5,000mcg/ml completely killed the Myeloma 8226 colony, killed 94.8% of WIDR (colon) colony and 88.5% of MCF-7 (breast) colony.
In another experiment, Dr. G. Atassi, mentioned earlier, working with mice, inoculated 38 mice with B-16 melanoma, ten of the mice received varying doses of shark cartilage with the control group receiving nothing. The median survival rate was 49% higher for the treated group, than for the control group.7
Shark Cartilage, Arthritis and Other Inflammation Disorders
Shark cartilage has also been shown to be a powerful and nontoxic anti-inflammatory agent. Even more, combined with angiogenesis inhibition properties, shark cartilage may provide not only inflammation relief but also inhibition vascularization of the cartilage in our joints, which is often associated with advanced cases of both osteo and rheumatoid arthritis.
Many researchers agree that the primary anti-inflammation component in shark cartilage is a family of complex carbohydrates called mucopolysaccharides. Two members of this family, chondroitin sulphate A and C, are often used by nutritional medicine practitioners to control inflammation and enteritus. But for some reason, shark cartilage appears to be more effective than using refined mucopolysaccharides. Researchers are unable to explain this phenomenon, but suspect it relates to an as yet unidentified compound in the shark cartilage. Sharks have powerful immune systems, which produce "antibodies that can successfully combat a vast array of foes - not just bacteria and viruses, but also certain chemicals which would kill a human being.8" Since inflammation disorders are often associated with immune dysfunction, perhaps an immune modulating substance is at work providing a synergistic effect with mucopolysaccharides.3
The initial work with shark cartilage and inflammation was carried out in 1985 by Dr. Serge Orloff, M.D., a professor of Rheumatology at Brugmann University Hospital of Brussels, Belgium and the Executive General Secretary of the International League Against Rheumatism. Dr. Orloff initially used shark cartilage power on a 49 year old female patient.
Therapeutic Benefits of Shark Cartilage (Page 4)
A Research Summary
I. William Lane, Ph.D. |
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The results were dramatic. Dr. Orloff remarked, "The first patient presented with femoral patellar [kneecap] "degenerative" joint disease and low back pain attributable to a chronic disk condition following a disco-radicular [base of the disk or compressed disk] acute episode five years ago. She is aged 49 and reliable in her reports. Her global pain score (visual analog scale) decreased by 50% after the first two weeks (scores: 50% to 22%) and by another 50% at 6 weeks of treatment (scores: 22% to 12%). Her comments were that she could bend both through her knees and her back with less pain during the day to day house chores and feeling as though she had former muscles.9"
Shark Cartilage Tested on Dogs with Secondary Osteoarthritis
At about the same time a veterinarian, Dr. J. Rauis, also of Brussels, started experimenting with shark cartilage on dogs have significant secondary osteoarthritis as the result of hip injury or hip dysplasia.
His first study involved three dogs, to test the effectiveness of the powder orally administered with food. After 21 days, his results were very good, all three dogs showed significant decreases in pain, functional signs (pain before and after activity and difficulty in getting over an obstacle) and swelling.
Armed with these results, the study was expanded to include ten dogs. Each dog received 740 mg of shark cartilage for every 5 kg of body weight for 21 days, and was evaluated at day 8, day 15, day 21 and day 36. During the period between day 21 and day 36 the shark cartilage was discontinued to see if there was a regression of the effects of the treatment.
| Symptom/Activity |
Start |
Day 21 |
Day 36 |
| Local Pain/Swelling |
2.7 |
0.9 |
1.7 |
| Lameness before action |
3.1 |
1.6 |
2.2 |
| Lameness after action |
3.0 |
1.7 |
2.0 |
| Movement over obstacle |
3.0 |
2.4 |
2.9 |
Figure 3: Average results observed in osteoarthritic dogs.
Dogs are especially useful in evaluating biologically active substances like shark cartilage because they do not exhibit a placebo effect usually found in human trials.
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Therapeutic Benefits of Shark Cartilage (Page 5)
A Research Summary
I. William Lane, Ph.D. |
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Long-Term Study of a Cartilage Preparation on Osteoarthritics in Czechoslovakia
Dr. V. Rejholee, M.D., Associate Professor, Head, Department of Internal Medicine/Rheumatology, Policlinic of Medical Faculty, Charles University, conducted a five year double-blind study on three groups, with a total of 147 osteoarthritic patients. Two of the groups received variations of a cartilage extract, the other group (control) received a placebo.
The placebo group was encouraged to use various NSAID (NonSteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) during active episodes.
The results were exceptional. The cartilage treated groups had average pain scores drop 85%, whereas, the average pain score of the control group fell only 5% over the five years. Even more important the actual joint degeneration was significantly less in the cartilage treated group. At the end of 5 years, the joint degeneration in the cartilage treated group was 37% of the control group. Dr. Rejholee also commented that there was significantly less lost work time in the cartilage treated group.11
Osteoarthritis and Angiogenesis
There appears to be a link between angiogenesis and the progression of osteoarthritis. Drs. Robert A. Brown, M.D. and Jacqueline B. Weiss, M.D., writing in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases13, explain that angiogenesis has a role in the calcification of joint cartilage. Normal cartilage is avascular, meaning it is without blood vessels. The synovial fluid (the fluid in the joints) of osteoarthritis patients contains a substance called ESAF (endothelial cell stimulating angiogenesis factor). The presence of this factor is associated with the vascularization and degradation of joint cartilage. Thus blocking angiogenesis with shark cartilage offers promise in controlling the degeneration of the joints and the progression of osteoarthritis.
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Therapeutic Benefits of Shark Cartilage (Page 6)
A Research Summary
I. William Lane, Ph.D. |
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The various researchers reported positive response in about 80% of the cases. It should be noted the response rate is dependent on the presence of inflammation. If inflammation in not present, the response to shark cartilage diminished.
Conclusion
Shark cartilage appears to be widely applicable to disorders that are often life threatening or disruptive of a good quality of life, along with offering the prospect of using a substance, which is non-toxic, and without side effects. For obvious reasons it should not be taken by pregnant or lactating women, children or persons who have suffered a recent heart attack.
References
- N. Vietmeyer, Readers Digest, July, 1988
- J. Folkman, M. Klagsburn, Science, Vol 235, Jan 1989
- R. Langer, A. Lee, Science, Vol 221 9/83
- G. Atassi, letter to I.W. Lane, September, 1989
- P. D'Amore, Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1988
- N. Vietmeyer, Readers digest, July 1988
- G. Atassi, letter to I.W. Lane, July, 1985
- N. Vietmeyer, Readers digest, July 1988
- S. Orloff, letter to I.W. Lane, April, 1985
- J. Rauis, Letter to I.W. Lane, August, 1989
- R. Brown, J. Weiss, Annuals of rheumatic Diseases, Vol. 47, 19
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