Ginger
Zingiber cassumunar Roxburgh (Zingiber cassumunar Roxb.) is a relative of ginger (Zingiber officinale, Roscoe), an herb native to Southeast Asia. The oil is extracted from the rhizomes of the plant and is used for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.
Ginger has been used for over 2,500 years in medicine, to treat nausea and to reduce pain and inflammation. It works by decreasing the amount of prostaglandins.
Prostaglandins serve a variety of regulatory functions within the body. One of these functions is to assist the transmission of pain signals to the brain so that you are readily alerted that damage or dysfunction has occurred within the body.
When damage occurs to the body, certain prostaglandins are formed from the unsaturated fatty acids released by damaged cells. The production of a particular group of prostaglandins amplifies the amount of pain experienced by serving as a pain activator. They increase the sensitivity of the nerves to pain impulses. By reducing the synthesis of prostaglandins, the amount of pain stimuli sent to the brain is correspondingly reduced. You may be familiar with the use of aspirin which also blocks the production of pain messenger prostaglandins.
In addition, by making changes in your diet, you can shift the prostaglandin production from the negative inflammatory prostaglandins to the anti-inflammatory prostaglandins.
Prostaglandins are known as local hormones - they are released from cells and bring about changes in neighboring cells that carry specific prostaglandin receptors in their membranes.
The influence which prostaglandins have depends upon the type of tissue they are acting upon. Such action may be direct, or as a result of modifying the actions of other signaling molecules.
As well as signaling and influencing pain messengers to the brain, prostaglandins will interact with other chemicals in the body when there is damage. They will also intensify the effects of other chemical mediators such as histamine.
Acting in concert these substances can bring about vasodilatation and an increase in the permeability of capillaries supplying the damaged area, encouraging the migration of phagocytes (Phagocytes are leukocytes - white blood cells - that engulf invading micro-organisms, and then kill them. They are part of our natural defense against infection) from the blood through capillary walls into the damaged tissue. As a result of these changes, the blood supply to the area increases, the tissues swell, causing inflammation and pain subsequently occurs.
For more information on prostaglandins:
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/micro/gallery/prostaglandin/prostaglandin.html
GINGER AND INFLAMMATION
There are two cyclo-oxygenase (COX) enzymes present in the human body, COX-1 and COX-2. The COX-1 enzyme is found in most tissues and is necessary for a variety of important internal functions, such as protecting the stomach lining, maintaining renovascular function and platelet aggregation.
The COX-2 enzyme, though, has an entirely different function. It is a necessary component of the inflammation process, which is a normal, healthy attempt by the body to heal itself. However, when inflammation gets out of control (such as in the case of arthritis or other chronic inflammatory disorders), ongoing pain and discomfort is the result. Prescription COX-2 inhibitors have proven helpful in relieving out of control inflammation and its accompanying pain-but with notable side effects such as an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
That's where botanical COX-2 inhibitors such as ginger can help. Botanical COX-2 inhibitors block the action of the COX-2 enzyme in much the same way as prescription drugs do, but without the side effects.
