RESEARCH - Glucosamine and chondroitin don't slow arthritis

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Glucosamine and chondroitin don't slow arthritis

Mon Sep 29, 2008 4:26pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two hugely popular supplements used to fight

arthritis and joint pain, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, do not

seem to work any better than placebo to slow the loss of knee

cartilage in osteoarthritis, researchers reported on Monday.

But the researchers said some of their findings were confusing and

said more study was needed.

" At two years, no treatment showed what we determined to be a

clinically important reduction in joint space width loss, " said Dr.

Sawitzke of the University of Utah School of Medicine, who

helped lead the study.

The study, funded by the National Center for Complementary and

Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, confirms

other findings showing the supplements have few or no effects.

The trial is called glucosamine/chondroitin arthritis intervention

trial or GAIT. Writing in the October issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism,

Sawitzke and colleagues said they had trouble interpreting their

results because patients who took placebos had a smaller loss of

cartilage than they should have.

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Read the rest of the article here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE48S82820080929

Not an MD