Boron – Treatment & Prevention of Osteoarthritis

In 1986, The Rheumatoid Disease Foundation received information on Boron and Arthritis from Rex E. Newnham, B.Sc., D.O., N.D. of Leeds, England.
Dr. Newnham demonstrated epidemiological evidence for the usefulness of Boron in treating or preventing. Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis.
His article follows:
“In countries where there are minimum amounts of available boron in the soil, there is much more arthritis. In most developed countries there are about 20% of people with some musculoskeletal disease, which is generally arthritis. In places where there is more than usual boron in the soil, there is much less arthritis.
“Jamaica and Mauritius have more than usual arthritis, and there is very little available boron in their soils. Most or all of the food and other crops show severe boron deficiency in these soils. Soil or plant analyses in these countries support the visual signs of deficiency.
“Israel is an advanced country that has less than 0.5% arthritis”, according to a survey conducted by Professor Bentwich.
It is interesting to note that there are no known shortages of boron in their soils.

In countries where there are minimum amounts of available boron in the soil, there is much more arthritis

Table : Daily Boron Levels in Food, by National Groups. According to Rex E. Newnham, B. Sc., D.O., N.D.

COUNTRY & CRITERIA	ESTIMATED DAILY INTAKE	% Having Arthritis	Remarks
JAMAICA Old soil analysis & personal inspection of crops	< 1mg	70%	Grossly insufficient Every crop had deficiencies
MAURITIUS Analysis of sugar cane leaf. Inspection of crops	< 1mg	50%	Grossly insufficient Most crops had deficiencies
U.S.A., ENGLAND, NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA Analysis of school meals. Arthritis surveys	1-2mg	20%	Insufficient boron most older people have arthritis
SOUTH AFRICA Xhosa tribe in Transkei Xhosa and others in big cities	3-5mg 1-2mg	3-4% 20%	Based on Meyer Similar to U.S.A.
FIJI Indians have much Arthritis Fijians, little Arthritis	1-1.5mg 3-5mg	20-30% 3-5%	These eat much rice These eat root vegetables
CARNARVON, WEST AUSTRALIA Govt. Research Station Personal survey	6-10mg	1%	Due to high boron in their water supply. Adequate
ISRAEL Information from Volcani Institute & a survey	5-8mg	1%	Adequate
NGAWHA, NEW ZEALAND Information from the town council	.10mg	none	Few people live here but arthritics go there to get rid of arthritis

From Table 1 it is seen that 6 mg of boron each day is sufficient to maintain good health without arthritis. In 1967 Peloquin published an article “Boron in Foodstuffs” and he shows how the boron content of some common foods will vary from 1 to 150 ppm, depending on the variety and the soil, but especially the fertilizer treatment of the soil. Some of the old crushed rock fertilizers had sufficient boron, but the newer synthetic types contain none. Crops will remove from 30g to 300g of boron per hectare. Grains remove the least while fruit trees and Cruciferae remove the most. Most commercial crops are grown with fertilizer, and this means the minimum of boron, but those grown in gardens that have never had fertilizer, but to which all wastes are returned have the most. The South African work show this very well.

“In 1979, there was a report by Dr. Rex E. Newnham claiming that “Boron Beats Arthritis.” It was the first paper linking – boron with arthritis and much work has been done since then. It is very interesting that boron compounds in concentrations as low as 0.0005M will inhibit phagocytes. This was reported by Zittle in 1951. This is the reason for the success of boron supplements in alleviating arthritis.

Neilsen has shown that boron seems to be able to affect calcium and magnesium metabolism in the rat. This agrees with Loughman’s work in which he showed that boron acted as a membrane catalyst to allow other ions to pass into the cell. On this basis boron will allow ATP (adenosine triphosphate) to enter cells of worn-out cartilage or collagen, so as to give energy for cell division, and thus to repair tissues, and to overcome the effect of arthritis.

There is increasing evidence that boron is an essential trace element for both people and animals. It does influence calcium and magnesium metabolism, and this is possibly through the parathyroid gland. It does alleviate and seems to cure arthritis either by acting (against whatever organism causes Rheumatoid Diseases) or as a membrane catalyst that permits repair of damaged cartilage and collagen.

It has been shown by Professor Jeffries, an orthopedic surgeon at Otago Hospital, that patients who had been taking the boron supplement had harder bones than the normal arthritic patient. This supports the work of Neilsen that boron does influence calcium metabolism.

Boron – Becoming Recognized as an Essential Mineral

We have heard of the importance of micro-essential minerals such as manganese, molybdenum, selenium, and vanadium. We know that calcium is required for sound bones. Now research shows that boron may play a key role in the retention of calcium. But, what is boron? The latest study conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicated that within 8 days of supplementing 3 mg. of boron, a test group of post-menopausal women lost 40% less calcium, one-third less magnesium, and slightly less phosphorus through their urine. These are the minerals which make up our bones.

The absorption of calcium into our body is a very complicated process. It requires sex hormones, especially estrogen. This is the reason why menopausal women, whose ovaries are no longer producing estrogen, have a hard time absorbing calcium. Even though many are taking a calcium supplement, most of the supplemental calcium is lost through urination. Currently, estrogen replacement is the only proven treatment for Osteoporosis, the brittle bone disease that affects millions.

After the exciting discovery of calcium retention by a small boron supplement, a question arises. How can boron make such a dramatic difference? The answer is found in the blood serum of the experimental subjects. Researchers have discovered that the blood level of the most active form of estrogen – 17-beta estradiol – doubles to the level found in women on estrogen replacement therapy; that’s a 50% increase over the pre-study levels! Also, the blood levels of testosterone – a male hormone and precursor of estradiol -more than doubled.

The researchers suspect that the body needs boron to synthesize estrogen, vitamin D, and other steroid hormones. It may also protect these hormones against rapid breakdown.

Osteoporosis affects as many as 15 to 20 million older Americans, predominantly women. Each year Osteoporosis contributes to about 1.3 million fractures (primarily in the hip, spine and wrist) in people 45 years old and over.

How much boron is toxic? We have discussed the estimation of boron requirement, which is about 2 mg per day (0.000071 ounces). Researchers found the lowest reported lethal dose of boric acid is about 45 grains (1.6 ounces/45.455 mg) for an adult and 2 grains (0.07 ounces/1.989 mg) for an infant.