INTRODUCTION BY DAVID WILKIE MBE

Since founding Health Perception in 1989, we have seen the UK market for natural joint-health supplements develop at an incredible rate and we are proud to continue our position as a trusted market leader, bringing consumers health through nutrition.

However, in recent years, as a result of this dramatic market growth and the ever-growing choice of products available to buy, we have experienced a level of inevitable confusion amongst consumers about exactly which natural health products to use and how to choose. Our responsibility as a leading nutrition company has, therefore, led us here at Health Perception to launch a new national consumer campaign providing free, impartial expert advice on joint health, called ‘Jump 4 Joints!’

Everyone at some stage in their life experiences the troublesome aches and pains that joint problems cause, whether it’s a sporting injury, general wear and tear from overuse or age, or pain from joint conditions. As a former Olympic swimmer, I have personally felt the pressure of sport at the highest level and the associated stresses and strains on the body and its joints. It was for this reason that I originally decided to introduce glucosamine into the UK. I had seen many of the world’s top athletes using glucosamine, a naturally occurring product in the body commonly referred to today as the ‘building blocks of the connective tissues’, to help their joints with excellent results, but it was a relatively unknown product here at home. Since then we have enjoyed seeing both positive results from clinical trials that prove the efficacy of glucosamine, and growing support from medical professionals in the joint-health sector.