San Diego Psychologist : Bad News for Glucosamine & Chondroitin
A new meta-analysis (a study combining lots of studies together) published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) indicates that the supplements Glucosamine & Chondroitin may not be clinically effective. It involved looking at pain levels and imaging data (“radiographic joint space”) from 3803 people with knee or hip osteoarthritis who were followed 22 months or more. Either the supplements were compared to a control group (placebo) or each other. After statistical analysis of all the data, the results did not show any clinically significant benefits of using these supplements.
According to the article, principle researcher Dr. Peter Juni, M.D., Division Head of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland stated, “None of the two supplements we evaluated appeared to have any clinically relevant benefit in terms of pain relief that could be detected by patients with knee or hip arthritis.”
Now, there are limitations to this analysis, different doses of these supplements, different qualities and forms of these supplements, etc so I would still strongly recommend you talking to your pharmacist, primary care physician, and any other care providers about these or any or supplements. Either way, according to the article, Dr. Andrew Sherman, M.D., Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine notes, “Since there appears to be no negative consequence to taking these supplements (except cost) there appears to be no harm in doing so.”
Final Thoughts:
I know many people out there swear by these supplements, both in and out of the health care field so the choice is ultimately yours. To me, the take-home message here is (1) be careful and (2) be educated about supplementation. Always be informed.
Until the next Glucosamine & Chondroitin study…
Article available at: http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=643238
Original study (pdf) available at: http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c4675.full.pdf
Dr. Schwartz
San Diego Psychologist
www.integrative-health.net