Promising relief and additional help for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers may come in the form of a vitamin supplement, says Life Extension Update. The Update, dated on Wednesday, December 23 stated that Menaquinone-7, which is a longer acting form of Vitamin K2 remains at high levels over a prolonged intake period than the regular MK-4 form and has great bioavailability after oral administration.The current trial used 24 male and 60 female rheumatoid arthritis sufferers. 42 of the patients received 100 mcg of the MK-7 form of the vitamin for 3 months while the other patients just followed their regular therapeutic routines. Clinical markers were assessed before and after the trial and among those who received MK-7, results showed that certain disease activity markers were decreased. This included ucOC, a bone metabolism marker, C-reactive protein (CRP) and MMP-3- an enzyme that downgrades collagens and other tissue components that are associated with systemic inflammation of RA.
Another positive factor is that supplementation with MK-7 is considerably less toxic for users than other antirheumatic drugs and has the added benefit of helping to protect against osteoporosis. The study is the first, to the author of this report’s knowledge, of any study conducted, on the use of MK-7 on rheumatoid arthritis patients.“It was suggested that MK-7 can improve the disease activity score in RA patients, through changes in bone mineral metabolism and hence can be added to conventional anti rheumatic therapy safely, they conclude.” This means that the addition of the supplement Vitamin K2 shows promise for rheumatoid arthritis for use in combination therapy with other disease-modifying, anti-rheumatic drugs, and represents new hope for RA sufferers.
