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osteoarthritis
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Supplements for knee pain may be more popular than effective.
· THE QUESTION The pain of bone rubbing against bone in the knee sends sufferers in search of lasting relief. Many people with osteoarthritis take glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, believing that these nutritional supplements make movement easier and more comfortable. Put to the test, do these beliefs hold up?
· THIS STUDY randomly assigned 1,583 adults diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee to one of five groups: to take daily doses of either glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, both supplements, the arthritis drug Celebrex (celecoxib) or a placebo. People also could take up to 4,000 milligrams of acetaminophen a day if needed. At the start of the study, about 78 percent of the participants had mild knee pain and 22 percent had moderate to severe pain. After six months, 64 percent of the people taking glucosamine, 65 percent of those taking chondroitin sulfate and 66 percent of the combination group had at least 20 percent less pain than at the start of the study, compared with 70 percent of the Celebrex group and 60 percent of those taking the placebo -- a difference described as "relatively small." Among people with pain that was more acute, those taking both supplements fared best, with 79 percent registering improvement, vs. 54 percent of the placebo group.
· WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? People with osteoarthritis, usually caused by the wearing away of protective cartilage between bones in the joints. An estimated 21 million Americans have this joint disorder, most of them middle-aged or older.
· CAVEATS Because the makeup of nutritional supplements is not regulated and may vary, people taking them may have results different from those in the study. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Celebrex have been linked to heart problems; this study, however, was not designed to evaluate such risks. Eight of the 25 authors had received fees from Pfizer, which makes Celebrex.
· FIND THIS STUDY Feb. 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine; abstract available online at http:/
· LEARN MORE ABOUT nutritional supplements for treating osteoarthritis at http:/
