"We don't have good evidence that it slows (disease) progression," says rheumatologist Allen Sawitzke, professor of internal medicine at the University of Utah and lead investigator.
A two-year study of how well glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate slow cartilage loss in arthritis patients could not show that the popular nutritional supplements work any better than sugar pills.
The results were published on the website of the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
The combination glucosamine chondroitin is the sixth-top-selling dietary supplement in the USA. It had annual sales of 1 million in 2007, the Nutrition Business Journal says.
The study is a follow-up to a large 2006 study funded by the National Institutes of Health that examined whether the supplements did a better job than sugar pills or the arthritis pain medication Celebrex in diminishing pain in osteoarthritis patients. Overall, it found they didn't.
The second study continued to give patients the supplements, sugar pills or Celebrex and measured whether the space between their knee joints decreased, a measure of whether the cartilage was breaking down.
The two-year study, which was conducted at nine sites, didn't show that anything worked better than the placebo to slow the disease.
Sawitzke acknowledges some problems with the study. More patients and a better method for measuring the distance between the bones would have helped. He says he'd like to see another study done. "I'm most worried about throwing out something that may possibly be a benefit."
Roy Altman, a professor of medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles, says the study "leaves us in limbo without answers."
He still encourages patients to try glucosamine sulfate, although he's less impressed with chondroitin sulfate.
Greg Gardner, a rheumatologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, says the news is disappointing.
He has told patients to at least try the supplements if they want to, because the pills are cheap and safe. But now, he says, "I probably won't tout it any more as potentially disease-modifying."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-09-29-joint-supplements_N.htm?loc=interstitialskipLynn..... I was taking glucosimine and chondroitin for a while, terrible tasting, but when I asked my RD about it he said studies have shown that it was a waste of money.....so I stopped, but after being on the roadback forum, some of the members swear by MSM but in large quantities, maybe thats the key.....anyway I am going to try it and see if it has any effect on inflammation.........Thanks for the post....Annie