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FAQs

1. What is NDGA?
2. What is a Tendon?
3. What is a Ligament?
4. What is a Skate?
5. What is Collagen?
6. What is Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid (NDGA) used for?
7. What is a Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)?
8. What is a Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL)?
9. What is a Tibia (shin bone)?
10. What is a Patellar Tendon?
11. What is a Fiber?
12. What is a Polymer Fiber?
13. What does Polymerization involve?
14. What is a Rotator Cuff?
15. What is a Digital Flexor?
16. What does In Vivo mean?
17. What is a Mermaid's Purse?
18. What is an Allograft?
19. What is a Xenograft?

1. What is NDGA?
Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid -- NDGA (nor-di-hydro-guai-aretic acid) is the primary active constituent of the chaparral bush, which grows in southwestern USA (to over 1000 years old!). It is widely known in the scientific community as a powerful antioxidant, and has the official designation as a "lipoxygenase inhibitor." Both research and folklore classify NDGA as effective in 1) cellular respiration, 2) analgesic activity, 3) anti-inflammatory activity, and 4) vasodepressant activity. These functions make NDGA a potent anti-ageing substance.

2. What is a Tendon?
A tough band of fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone or muscle to muscle and is designed to withstand tension.

3. What is a Ligament?
A fibrous tissue that connects bones (or two different parts of a single bone). They are sometimes called “articular ligaments”, "fibrous ligaments", or "true ligaments".

4. What is a Skate?
A cartilaginous fish that is carnivorous, feeding mostly on smaller fish and crustaceans. They have flat pectoral fins continuous with their head, two dorsal fins and a short, spineless tail. There are more than 200 described species.

5. What is Collagen?
The main protein of connective tissue in animals and the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% of the total protein content.

6. What is Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid (NDGA) used for?
The material properties of collagen fibers polymerized with nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) are equivalent to native tendon, suggesting that NDGA crosslinking may provide a viable approach to stabilizing collagenous materials for use in repairing ruptured, lacerated, or surgically transected fibrous tissues, such as tendons and ligaments.

7. What is a Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)?
It is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It connects from a posterio-lateral (back & outside) part of the femur to an anterio-medial (front & inside) part of the tibia. These attachments allow it to resist forces pushing the tibia forward relative to the femur. It passes up, backward, and laterally, and is fixed into the medial and back part of the lateral condyle of the femur. Tearing of the ACL is a common injury among athletes.

8. What is a Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL)?
It is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It resists forces pushing the knee medially (towards the body), which would otherwise produce valgus deformity. The medial collateral ligament is a broad, flat, membranous band, situated slightly posterior on the medial side of the knee joint.

9. What is a Tibia (shin bone)?
In human anatomy, this is found medial (towards the middle) and anterior (towards the front) to the other such bone, the fibula. It is the second-longest bone in the human body, the largest being the femur. The tibia articulates with the femur and patella superiorly, the fibula laterally and with the ankle inferiorly.

10. What is a Patellar Tendon?
The Patellar ligament (anterior ligament) is the central portion of the common tendon of the Quadriceps femoris, which is continued from the patella to the tuberosity of the tibia. It is a strong, flat, ligamentous band, about 8 cm. in length, attached, above, to the apex and adjoining margins of the patella and the rough depression on its posterior surface; below, to the tuberosity of the tibia; its superficial fibers are continuous over the front of the patella with those of the tendon of the Quadriceps femoris.

11. What is a Fiber?
A class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread. Fibers are of great importance in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together.

12. What is a Polymer Fiber?
A subset of man-made fibers, which are based on synthetic chemicals rather than arising from natural materials by a purely physical process.

13. What does Polymerization involve?
Polymerization is a process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form three-dimensional networks of polymer chains. There are many forms of polymerization and different systems exist to categorize them.

14. What is a Rotator Cuff?
It is an anatomical term given to the group of muscles and their tendons that acts to stabilize the shoulder. This group of tendons can become torn, leading to pain and restricted movement of the arm. A torn rotator cuff can occur following a trauma to the shoulder or it can occur through "wear and tear" of the tendons under the acromion. It is an injury frequently sustained by athletes whose duties involve making repetitive throws, such as baseball pitchers, American football quarterbacks, or swimmers. It is commonly associated with motions that require repeated overhead motions or forceful pulling motions.

15. What is a Digital Flexor?
In human anatomy, the flexor digitorum profundus is a muscle in the forearm that flexes the fingers. It is considered to be an extrinsic muscle because its action is at a different location than the main body of the muscle.

16. What does In Vivo mean?
That which takes place inside an organism. In science, in vivo refers to experimentation done in or on the living tissue of a whole, living organism as opposed to a partial or dead one. Pre clinical and clinical trials are forms of in vivo research.

17. What is a Mermaid's Purse?
The normally empty egg cases of dogfish, skates, sharks and rays. They are among the objects which are washed in by the sea, and can be found at the strandline, which is the furthest point of the highest tide. Mermaid's purses from rays vary in that they have points rather than tendrils. The color and shape of mermaid's purses also varies greatly from species to species. The young fish would normally gestate between 6 to 12 months, but can be much longer for deep sea cat sharks which lay their eggs in very cold water.

18. What is an Allograft?
When transplanted cells, tissues or organs are sourced from a genetically non-identical member of the same species. Most human tissue and organ transplants are allografts.

19. What is a Xenograft?
The transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another such as from pigs to humans.

These statements have not been reviewed by the FDA.
This website is not meant as a substitute for professional medical advice.