William Atkins
Tuesday, 30 September 2008 22:03
Science -
Health
Page 1 of 3
According to new research by American researchers, sugar pills work just as well as the highly advertised nutritional supplements glucosamine and/or chondroitin on the progression of knee osteoarthritis. Sugar pills also worked as well as the prescription drug Celecoxib.
The September 27, 2008
article summarizing these conclusions is entitled “The effect of glucosamine and/or chondroitin sulfate on the progression of knee osteoarthritis: A report from the glucosamine/chondroitin arthritis intervention trial.”
It is published in the online issue of the journal
Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a major medical problem. Unfortunately, medical therapies to slow damage to the structure of the knee are limited. Mostly, medical treatments for knee OA are limited to the relief of its symptoms—particularly with glucosamine or chrondroitin, either taken together or separately.
Thus, these researchers from the United States decided to study whether glucosamine and/or chrondroitin—either together or separately—work as well as Celecoxib, or even a placebo (sugar pills), to slow the
“progression of joint space width (JSW) in patients with knee OA.”
JSW (joint space width) is medically defined as the space between knee joints. When it decreases, it is an indication that the cartilage of the knee is breaking down.
Celecoxib is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that is commonly used in the treatment of osteoarathritis, along with rheumatoid arthritis and various symptoms people have that cause pain and discomfort.
Marketed by Pfizer, it is trademarked under such names as Celebrex, Celebra, and Onsenal.
The study's conclusions are found on page two.
