Glucosamine/Chondroitin Combination for Pain Relief in Osteoarthritis

Washington, D.C February 27, 2006 - In what will be good news for the estimated 20 million plus sufferers in the US, the readily available health supplements glucosamine and chondroitin have been shown to be effective in pain relief for the chronic disorder.

A new study, the largest and most comprehensive to date, has reaffirmed previous research into the efficacy of the supplements and a clinically significant result has been given for pain relief in patients that are suffering moderate to severe pain.

The study, Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention (GAIT) published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), enrolled 1,600 patients with documented arthritis of the knee and gave them placebo or daily doses of either chondroitin, glucosamine, a combination of the two, or the painkiller celecoxib.

Dr Clegg, the principal author of the study, provided some commentary on the NIH website.

"The GAIT team's goal was to assess whether glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, which we saw our osteoarthritis patients using, provided pain relief," said Dr Clegg, "I urge people with osteoarthritis to follow a comprehensive plan for managing their arthritis pain--eat right, exercise, lose excess weight, and talk to your physician about appropriate treatment options."

The team has planned a further study to investigate the ability of this supplement combination to restrict the progression of osteoarthritis such as delaying the narrowing of the spaces between the joints, a clinical feature of the disease.