Glucosamine and chondroitin don't slow arthritis

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. Allen 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.



Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080929/hl_nm/us_arthritis_supplements;_ylt=AlQT3kQjZXzkMxxRoHKjXdER.3QA