The Eos Active logo never looked so good!  We are delighted to be kit sponsors of the fantastic Chineham Tigers under 11s team, based in Bassingstoke, Hampshire. 

Supporting the efforts of grassroots activities and sport is a privilege for Eos Active to get involved in. Good habits around team sports, self-discipline, and learning about the benefits of being healthy and staying fit are very well aligned with our way of thinking.

Chineham Tigers epitomise this ethos, from their under 6yr girls and boys teams through to the under-18s, they have a 30+ team strong club, not just developing football skills but also essential life and fitness skills along the way.

Based in Chineham in the north of Basingstoke, Chineham Tigers FC was established in 1994 and is run by a committed team of volunteers. Their aim is to serve the local community both in Chineham and the surrounding areas by providing the opportunity for boys and girls of all ages to participate in organised football. Their passion is in providing an equal opportunity for all to get into football. They have a full girls football set up to allow for equal opportunities.

They strive to provide a fun, friendly, safe and professionally managed environment for the equal benefit of all their players.

With our sponsorship coming mid season, the team were already having a strong run of form, but in their first match in the new Eos Active sponsored kit, the boys were playing in their local derby. 0-2 down at halftime, we were worried the kit had brought some sort of bad luck… only for the team to dig deep and with true Chineham Tiger spirit, fight back to a 3-2 victory!  

It was great to hear about the team loving their new kit, and the good form continued into the following week winning their next cup match to progress to the Semi-Finals. 

Football Leagues and clubs accredited by the FA have positively changed the football landscape over the past 20 years. They create the ideal environments to nurture players, coaches and volunteers.

We can’t wait to hear more about the positive changes Chineham Tigers FC are continually putting in place,  and to also follow the success of the u11 boys team this season and into next. 

If you have any questions or comments about Chineham Tigers, please contact them as they would love to hear from you.

We hope by now it’s accepted that barring any major and unfortunate injuries, sports and using our joints are good, not bad for the overall longevity of our joint health. We mustn’t see grassroots sport as mini professions for kids, it’s not all about ‘making it to the top’, it’s about learning robust healthy habits for lifelong participation in sport, and that it can be a fun thing to do for life. 

In adulthood, we need avenues to socialise, take breaks away from daily stresses, and continue to use our bodies.  This all helps with our mental and physical health. Joint health thrives when we can stay active, and maintain healthy diets and weight.   The teams at Chineham Tigers are well on their way to developing some lifelong experiences and skills for their players.

If you are involved in a local sports team, and you’re not affiliated to the local physiotherapist we recommend you do so.  Advice on warm-ups, cools downs and further support can help prevent serious injuries.  One particular group leading the way for ACL injury prevention is Power Up To Play.

ACL injury in adolescents is on the rise and is a life changing event but can much of the time can be avoided. Give their website a look our contact them or more information.  

If you’re an adult with joint pain that is cutting short your sporting life and you’re struggling to stay active, contact us.  We can point you in the right direction.  We specialise in joint pain injection therapies which are safe and effective.  You can read more on this website but we also have a patient-friendly website, packed full of useful information about some of the options the healthcare professionals we work with can offer. 

Over the last few years, there’s been a huge amount of media and information about the microbiome and how it can affect multiple functions in our bodies. From links to autoimmune, anxiety, depression, and general well-being, it’s no surprise we are all sitting up and listening.

What’s the link to OA?

Part of the problem in determining potential helpful strategies or treatments in the area of OA is that the gut microbiome interacts with multiple risk factors for OA, such as obesity, estrogen, age, sex, diet, metabolic syndrome, genetics, inflammation, mechanical loading, and exercise.

However, a recent paper caught my eye that I wanted to share:

The Microbiome in Osteoarthritis: a Narrative Review of Recent Human and Animal Model Literature:

Dunn, C.M., Jeffries, M.A. The Microbiome in Osteoarthritis: a Narrative Review of Recent Human and Animal Model Literature. Curr Rheumatol Rep 24, 139–148 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-022-01066-6

Purpose of the review: The microbiome has recently emerged as a powerful contributor to health and illness in chronic, systemic disorders. Furthermore, new microbiome niches beyond traditional gut locations are frequently being described. Over the past 5 years, numerous pivotal studies have demonstrated associations between changes in various microbiome niches and the development of osteoarthritis (OA). Herein, we review the most impactful recent literature, including microbiome associations with disease and the potential therapeutic value of microbiome manipulation.

Findings:

• The gut microbiome of human OA patients is enriched in specific bacterial clades, most notably Streptococcus, which correlates with OA pain, Firmicutes, and others.
• OA can be easily distinguished from RA by evaluating differences in oral microbiome composition. Most studies have also demonstrated a reduction in the richness of the gut microbiome (alpha diversity) associated with OA.
• Several studies have identified bacterial signatures within human knee and hip cartilage, synovial fluid, and synovial tissue and have described changes in these patterns occurring with the development of OA.
• In animal models of OA, high-fat diet-induced obesity has been the most well-studied OA risk factor associated with changes in the microbiome, with numerous bacterial clades changed within the gut microbiome and associated with OA.
• Also in animal models, various oral supplementations, including dietary fiber, probiotics including Lactobacillus species, and cecal microbiome transplantation have all shown improvements in OA histopathology or cartilage healing. Microbiome changes are strongly associated with the OA disease process and with individual OA risk factors related to both the gut microbiome and the microbial DNA patterns in the joint.
• Microbiome-directed interventions have the potential to prevent or reduce the progression of OA. Future studies should investigate the mechanistic underpinnings of these microbiome associations and further define the therapeutic potential of microbiome augmentation.

It’s a developing field

Clearly, the data is suggestive and not conclusive but having spent a large part of my career around joint preservation surgical technologies, the pre-surgical and preventative area is always fascinating. Prevention is better than cure.

Just like joint injections can directly nourish the joint, should we be focussing on nourishing our whole system before symptoms develop? It’s very subjective and any form of early joint preservation strategy is hard to quantify success, but my ‘gut’ feeling is a holistic approach throughout your life is the best way to go.

With Eos Active, we want to promote overall wellness and a holistic approach to MSK and joint preservation. From the start, we teamed up with Kirsten Cameron, an expert nutritionist. The goal was to create a complementary nutritional supplement range that is driven by as much data and research as possible.

Our range is simple and aims to support some key areas around staying active. We’re still developing the range, it’s taken time as we won’t compromise on certain areas of quality. If you are interested in working with us to offer our microbiome support option ‘The Core’ of any of the other packages in your own practice, get in touch.

Thanks for taking the time to read our update on the Mircbiome health for OA – Jim.