Written by Patrick Massey, M.D., Ph.D. The regular use of glucosamine and/or chondroitin might reduce the pain and slow the progression of osteoarthritis and, in contrast to drugs, has almost no side effects.
Aging is inevitable – and it often brings certain common health problems. One of these is arthritis. There are several kinds of arthritis, but the most common form is osteoarthritis. It occurs when the joint fails because of destruction of the cartilage. Risk factors for arthritis include obesity, repetitive motion, injury to the joint and increased age.
The pain and disability from arthritis is considerable: More than 100,000 people in the United States are unable to walk as a result of arthritis of the knee and medical costs are a staggering $50 billion or more per year.
The traditional medical approach for arthritis includes physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications and joint replacement. Although physical therapy probably yields the best long-term results, Congress recently limited Medicare physical-therapy coverage to about $1,600 per year, equaling about eight visits with a physical therapist.
That leaves drugs, usually nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, as the primary therapy for arthritis. This might not be the best alternative.
Newer drugs in this category are very expensive and all can have serious side effects, with internal bleeding being the most common. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs also can damage the kidneys, bone marrow and liver. The medical costs of treating the side effects is significant – more than $2 billion per year. These drugs also are associated with 28,000 deaths a year.
Fortunately, there is a better option. The regular use of glucosamine and/or chondroitin might reduce pain and slow progression of osteoarthritis and, in contrast to drugs, has almost no side effects.
Glucosamine and chondroitin are found in abundance in healthy cartilage. They are the building blocks cartilage cells use to make the cartilage structure. I consider them to be “food for the cartilage.”
Over the past 20 years, a number of medical studies consistently have demonstrated that glucosamine and chondroitin relieve osteoarthritis pain. In addition, several recent studies have shown that they are at least as effective as ibuprofen, though not quite as fast acting.
Glucosamine can both relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis and prevent the deterioration of the joint. In one study, patients each took 1,500 mg of glucosamine every day for three years. X-rays of the knees showed no change in the joint. In contrast, osteoarthritis grew worse in patients taking either a placebo or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
If the cartilage destruction associated with arthritis can be prevented, patients can avoid disability, drug use and the need for surgery, saving billions of dollars per year and a lot of pain and suffering. There is no osteoarthritis medication that can do this – indeed, there is evidence that chronic use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs might actually accelerate arthritis.
I often recommend glucosamine to my patients. I even recommend it to young athletes (including my children) to help strengthen and preserve their growing cartilage. I do not have joint pain, but I take glucosamine myself. I don’t want to ever have the pain and disability of osteoarthritis.
