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Natural
Arthritis Remedies Pass Scrutiny
(HealthScout)
-- Two popular alternative remedies appear to help relieve the
pain and swelling of osteoarthritis, new research shows.
Glucosamine
and chondroitin, which are sold as over-the-counter supplements,
work modestly-to-significantly well at helping the symptoms of
osteoarthritis of the knee and hip, according to the study, which
reviews more than a dozen previous trials of the compounds.
A report on
the study is in the latest Journal of the American Medical
Association.
This is an
"important effort," say Dr. John Klippel, medical director of
the Arthritis Foundation. But he adds that many questions about
these products are still unanswered. Foremost among them, Klippel
says, are whether the compounds -- made from crushed cow cartilage
and shellfish casing -- repair damaged joint tissue, and whether
they keep working over time. Neither of these aspects has been
conclusively studied.
The National
Institutes of Health is supporting a major trial comparing glucosamine
and chondroitin to a dummy treatment in people with osteoarthritis,
the most common form of arthritis. Patients with the condition,
which affects roughly one in three Americans over age 63, suffer
gradual erosion of the cartilage that cushions joints and keeps
the bones from rubbing against each other. The condition leads
to pain, inflammation and loss of mobility.
Klippel says
the results of NIH-sponsored study should carry significant weight
since they'll have the imprimatur of a federal research agency.
Almost all of the earlier tests of the substances were sponsored
by the companies that make them.
Although the
two supplements have been popular in Europe for more than a decade,
they have only recently caught on in the United States. In theory,
the ground-up animal cartilage enters the bloodstream, makes its
way to affected joints and helps patch them.
In the latest
finding, Dr. Timothy McAlindon and his colleagues at Boston University
School of Medicine analyzed 15 earlier studies of glucosamine
and chondroitin in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or
hip.
The researchers
first ranked the studies for their scientific rigor. Many had
serious problems in the way they were done, such as poor control
of variables. McAlindon's group also found signs of "publication
bias," skewed results that occur when only positive findings about
a treatment are published.
Still, after
accounting for the weaknesses in the trials, glucosamine appeared
to be weakly-to-modestly effective, McAlindon says, and chondroitin
rated just shy of significantly effective.
Although the
substances' benefits waned as the trials became larger and more
rigorous, McAlindon says the two compounds appear to be roughly
as helpful as nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), such
as aspirin, as well as other treatments.
McAlindon
admits the studies he reviewed have limitations. For example,
none included radiologic exams of the patients to figure out if
the compounds repaired joints in addition to improving symptoms.
And none of the studies took into account the fact that different
groups of patients might respond differently to the supplements.
However, he
says, there's no evidence that either treatment is dangerous.
One drawback
of the natural remedies, he says, is that they can be far more
expensive than prescription arthritis treatments. A 120-tablet
bottle of glucosamine can cost $25 or more, while generic NSAIDs
run substantially less.
To
learn more about glucosamine and chondroitin, visit the
Arthritis Foundation.
Reference
Source 101
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