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A popular over the counter pair of supplements used by millions for osteoarthritis has been called into question in new research.
We’re talking about glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate.
Are they worth your money?
The answer is….. maybe.
Osteoarthritis is a very common problem. It affects around 20 million Americans, and that number is expected to double in the next two decades.
Finding a treatment that helps control the pain is the mission for these patients.
But there’s a question now as to whether glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate fit that bill.
“Pain has been a lot more.” Bob Bratsafolis has had knee osteoarthritis for decades now. He’s looking at knee replacement surgery because medicines haven’t cut it. “I’ve taken everything, everything I could think of. All the medications that there are, Tylenol, aspirins.”
He also gave over the counter supplements glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate a shot, but only briefly. “Not consistently I’ve taken them for like a week. Never something to make a judgment on it.”
According to new research in the latest New England journal of medicine, these supplements may be providing little if no benefit at all to most patients with osteoarthritis.
Overall, the study found glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate were not significantly better than dummy placebo pills at reducing knee pain by 20. And that’s really setting the bar low. Because expert criteria published in 2004 says that an effective treatment really reduces pain by 50 percent.
“So I guess I had it right,” says Bob.
But dr. Andrew Feldman, chief of sports medicine at St. Vincent’s medical center and team physician for the New York Rangers, disagrees. “You always take any study in a journal with a grain of salt. What the study does seem to show is that the early stages of arthritis the mixture of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate doesn’t seem to have a major effect. But more aggressive arthritis it seems to have more of an effect. And in my patient population I have found very good results,” says Dr. Feldman.
One criticism of the study: it looked not at glucosamine sulfate, but rather glucosamine hydrochloride; you can’t necessarily say they’re the same thing or have the same effect.
But the findings that chondroitin sulfate, used alone, don’t work, are hard to debate. It may still be effective when used with glucosamine sulfate, at least, for more severe patients.
“That study’s not flawed but it’s also not complete. There’s no major side effect. And if you try it and it works, who cares what the study says, who cares if it’s a placebo effect or if it’s a real deal. If you’re getting pain relief, you’re getting pain relief. My opinion is go for it.”
Dr. Feldman says the combination of glucosamine with chondroitin sulfate along with MSM, another natural antiinflammatory, works very well.
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