Benefits of Glucosamine Chondroitin

mike

1 Posts
 
Posted - 04/16/2006 :  21:52:33  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I was just wondering what everyone thought about glucosamine chondroitin. A lot of physicians are recommending this supplement and I was just curious about its effectivenes with your patients.
-Mike

grpt

15 Posts
 
Posted - 04/18/2006 :  00:19:30  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Mike,
I have heard from a lot of my patients that take Glucosamine Chondroitin that it has helped with decreasing their pain associated with arthritis. I did a quick literature review and found that the evidence was conflicting. In a study in the N Engl J Med. 2006 Feb 23;354(8):858-60 "Glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and the two in combination for painful knee osteoarthritis" the researchers found that Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate alone or in combination did not reduce pain effectively in the overall group of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Exploratory analyses suggest that the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate may be effective in the subgroup of patients with moderate-to-severe knee pain.
In another study in JAMA. 2000;283:1469-1475, "Glucosamine and Chondroitin for Treatment of Osteoarthritis ", the researchers found that trials of glucosamine and chondroitin preparations for OA symptoms demonstrate moderate to large effects, but quality issues and likely publication bias suggest that these effects are exaggerated. Nevertheless, some degree of efficacy appears probable for these preparations.
Finally I found a great site http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/glucosamine.html
which was pretty informative. I guess my feeling is that if my patient feels like Glucosamine Chondroitin works for them, then I wouldn't discourgage it. I hope this helps.