Supplements Fail To Stop Arthritis Pain, Study Says

By Trevor Schubert

Published on March 02, 2006

The analysis of the two supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin, was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The purpose of the study was to shed light on the effectiveness of the supplements.

Americans spent upwards of $734 million on glucosamine and chondroitin in 2004, according to The Nutritional Business Journal, making the two drugs some of the most popular nutritional supplements in the country. The drugs are produced by several companies and are often sold together as a treatment for arthritis.

In the 24-week study, 1,583 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee were randomly assigned to five groups. Some of the patients took glucosamine, some took chondroitin and some took both. An additional group of patients, serving as a control group, took either a placebo or celecoxib, an approved arthritis prescription drug sold as Celebrex.

No significant effect was found for glucosamine, chondroitin or the combination of the two; however, the study did show that patients who took celecoxib showed a significant improvement.

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