CHONDROITIN AND GLUCOSAMINE ARE WORTHLESS!
Original article from Medscape
Alone or in combination, the supplements do not reduce joint pain or limit joint-space narrowing.
Introduction
Randomized trials on the effectiveness of glucosamine and chondroitin for osteoarthritis (OA) have yielded mixed results; the largest trial showed no benefit for these agents, used alone or in combination for knee OA (JW Gen Med Mar 15 2006, p. 45, and N Engl J Med 2006; 354:795).
Now, researchers have conducted a meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials in which about 3800 patients (68% women; median age, 62) with OA of the hip or knee received glucosamine, chondroitin, both supplements, or placebo; all patients were evaluated for joint pain — and some for radiological progression of disease — during follow-ups that ranged from 1 to 36 months.
On a 10-cm visual analog pain scale, the difference in pain intensity (compared with placebo) was –0.4 cm for glucosamine, –0.3 cm for chondroitin, and –0.5 cm for the combination.
These results were of borderline statistical significance, but they did not approach the researchers’ prespecified minimally important clinical difference of 0.9 cm. Six trials contributed data on radiological joint-space narrowing.
Glucosamine, chondroitin, and the combination had no effect on joint-space narrowing. The supplements, either alone or in combination, however, caused no reported adverse effects
Glucosamine, chondroitin, and the combination are no better than placebo in attenuating joint pain or limiting joint-space narrowing in patients with hip or knee OA.
Nevertheless, clinicians likely will encounter patients who are interested in, or report benefit from, using these preparations. In these situations, clinicians should inform patients of the results of clinical trials.
For patients who remain steadfast in their desire to take glucosamine, chondroitin, or both, clinicians should be open to empirical trials of these preparations — given their apparent safety — as long as the patients are willing to pay for the compounds.
Dr. Pinna says:
These two proteins are “Meat†and nothing more. When they get to the stomach and intestine they get broken down into their amino acids and are used as a form of nutrition.
Like humans throughout history, we think that if we eat something that resembles parts of our body that item that we eat will strengthen that body part. So primitive people eat hearts and brains and gall bladders and genitals to make those parts better.
All that they are accomplishing is having an interesting meal, filled with visions of being stronger or smarter or sexier. Forget it!Â
In terms of Glucosamine and Chondroitin, these two molecules are found in joint cartilage. We assumed therefore, that if we ate the two molkecules are joints would improve.
This is the same reasoning used by primitives for eating heart or brain.
Knowing that this reasoning was entirely fallacious, unscrupulous drug companies and manufacturers bought both Glucosamine and Chondroitin for pennies, packaged them as tablets with compelling advertising, and sold them to an unsuspecting public for a profit in the millions and billions!
You and I, my friends, unwittingly spent our hard earned money for what was a few grams of meat. In our desperation to relieve pain and to save our joints, we left our brains in the back seat.
We too are just as dumb, rather, uneducated, as the Natives of New Guinea.
If you want to protect your joints, lose weight and don’t over exercise. Certain sports produce arthritis—no question. Tennis gets the knees, racquetball the spine and running the hips and low back.
Swimming, however, does not produce arthritis and remains the most excellent means of losing weight, preventing diabetes and conserving muscle. We were made to be in the water. We came from the oceans. The Earth is covered with water. Find some and jump in. Your joints will love you.
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