The University of Sydney,
A new 2019 Australian study has found an extract made from soy, eggs and peanuts significantly reduces pain and stiffness when taken by sufferers of knee osteoarthritis.
Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) was given to 111 participants in the study conducted by researchers from The University of Sydney, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland University of Technology and the University of Hong Kong.
Participants received either 300 mg PEA, 600 mg PEA or placebo each day for a period of 8 weeks as part of the single site, comparative, double-blind placebo controlled study. All participants were adults with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis.
At the end of the trial researchers found a significant reduction in the total WOMAC scores of the 300mg group (p?=?0.0372) as well as the 600mg group (p?=?0.0012). WOMAC is a widely used self-administered health status measure used in assessing pain, stiffness, and function in patients with OA of the hip or knee.
The NRS (numerical rating scales) pain evaluations for “worst pain” and “least pain” were also significantly reduced in the 300 mg PEA group (p?<?0.001, p?=?0.005) and the 600 mg PEA group (p?<?0.001, p?<?0.001) compared to placebo.
Interestingly, participants who received either dose of PEA also reported a significant reduction in anxiety (DASS) (300 mg PEA, p?=?0.042; 600 mg PEA group (p?=?0.043) compared to placebo.
What exactly is Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA)?
PEA is a non-endocannabinoid lipid mediator or endogenous fatty acid amide first isolated from egg yolk, soy and peanuts. So technically it’s a food product, not a drug.
What sets PEA apart from opioids, codeine, morphine and other painkillers is that, as well as being found in food products, it’s also produced naturally by the human body. It’s what’s called an autacoid which means it’s produced and then used locally in every tissue of the body – it’s an all-of-body effect, not just isolated to one organ. PEA shuts off the source of the inflammation and the source of the pain – in contrast traditional painkillers target just one area of the brain or body focusing on the pain symptom and not the cause.
Unlike other chronic pain medications, no serious side-effects or adverse drug-drug interactions have been reported by users of PEA in current studies.
As it can be found naturally in common foods, in Australia PEA is classified as a food substance and not a drug.
