What do you all think of glucosamine chondroiton? There was a recent study that said gc really isn’t as effective as is said. People with arthritis were tested, those with mild arthritis that took gc had no real changes in joint pain, while those with serious arthritis that took it experienced some relief.
I took this back during football season because I started feeling pain in my knees. I thought it worked allright. I started taking more during wrestling season but then my joints didn’t feel any different.
So do you all think this stuff really works, or is it all mental?
My knees ALWAYS hurt during my contest prep due to over use and this year I have been using NOW Gluco,Chon,MSM all in one capsules and for the first time I have had no pain. I’m not sure this is proof but I’m not stopping that’s for sure. I hope this helps, -T
Highlights: After five years of recruiting, testing and analyzing, this trial excitingly reports, ?Combination glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate is effective in treating moderate to severe knee pain due to osteoarthritis.?
Basically the research has pointed to the conclusion that moderate knee pain sufferers get a bit of an advantage over placebo, while severe knee pain sufferers get a lot more benefit from it.
I personally take it for preventitive maintenance, its cheap and low level of side effects.
It stopped my knees from aching. Proof enough for me.
Fish oil is also very effective at reducing joint pain.
Some studies showed it to be very effective.
I’d be careful to see who funded the studies that show it not to be effective… there is a lot of money on the line when supplements can be used instead of medicines.
[quote]vroom wrote:
Some studies showed it to be very effective.
I’d be careful to see who funded the studies that show it not to be effective… there is a lot of money on the line when supplements can be used instead of medicines.[/quote]
Yup, but as I understand it, this is a meta-study. Meaning they put together all (or most) of the results in other studies. This is what I’ve been told, I actually haven’t seen it.
Still, even considering the placebo effect, which do exist and is provided by both the AINS and glucosamine + chondroitin, the latter is more effective. By how much is the real question, and that depends on who’s funding the study.
I was getting sore joints reasonably often from my heavier stuff but I haven’t had any noticiable joint pain since about a month after I started taking it. It has been around four or five months since then. I may be placebo or it might be coincidence, but the stuff is cheap enough that I’m happy to err on the side of caution and continue taking it. Plus it may be helpful long-term as I age.
http://sev.prnewswire.com/supplementary-medicine/20060302/CGTH02502032006-1.html
"“Following publication of the recent study on Glucosamine and Chondroitin in the New England Journal of Medicine (Feb 23, 2006), news headlines screamed, ‘Natural Therapies Ineffective.’ But the study,” says Teitelbaum, "actually revealed something quite different: Natural remedies were far more effective than Celebrex for moderate to severe arthritis.
For mild arthritis, the difference between placebo, Celebrex and natural remedies was minimal." According to Dr. Teitelbaum, the data showed the following breakdown, with price-tags omitted:
For moderate to severe arthritis
A-Placebo 54% improved at no cost per patient over 1 year
B-GS/Chondroitin
(Natural) 79% improved, $165/patient over 1 year(1)
C-Celebrex 69% improved, $1200/patient over 1 year(2)
For mild arthritis
A-Placebo 62% improved at no cost per patient over 1 year
B-Chondroitin 66.5% improved, $166/patient over 1 year(3)
C-Celebrex/COX2 70% improved, $1200/patient over 1 year
More accurate headlines would read: ‘Placebo almost as effective as Celebrex and natural remedies – Natural remedies best for severe arthritis,’ and ‘Celebrex nearly 700% more costly than natural remedies,’ comments Dr. Teitelbaum."
“Dr. Teitelbaum, Director of the Center for Effective CFIDS/Fibromyalgia Therapies, does not accept money from pharmaceutical or supplement companies.”
[quote]Bic wrote:
http://sev.prnewswire.com/supplementary-medicine/20060302/CGTH02502032006-1.html
"“Following publication of the recent study on Glucosamine and Chondroitin in the New England Journal of Medicine (Feb 23, 2006), news headlines screamed, ‘Natural Therapies Ineffective.’ But the study,” says Teitelbaum, "actually revealed something quite different: Natural remedies were far more effective than Celebrex for moderate to severe arthritis.
For mild arthritis, the difference between placebo, Celebrex and natural remedies was minimal." According to Dr. Teitelbaum, the data showed the following breakdown, with price-tags omitted:
For moderate to severe arthritis
A-Placebo 54% improved at no cost per patient over 1 year
B-GS/Chondroitin
(Natural) 79% improved, $165/patient over 1 year(1)
C-Celebrex 69% improved, $1200/patient over 1 year(2)
For mild arthritis
A-Placebo 62% improved at no cost per patient over 1 year
B-Chondroitin 66.5% improved, $166/patient over 1 year(3)
C-Celebrex/COX2 70% improved, $1200/patient over 1 year
More accurate headlines would read: ‘Placebo almost as effective as Celebrex and natural remedies – Natural remedies best for severe arthritis,’ and ‘Celebrex nearly 700% more costly than natural remedies,’ comments Dr. Teitelbaum."
“Dr. Teitelbaum, Director of the Center for Effective CFIDS/Fibromyalgia Therapies, does not accept money from pharmaceutical or supplement companies.”[/quote]
Didn’t want to quote numbers from memory without a source, but those are the % I’ve heard of. For those of you not in the pharmaceutical thing, 10% more effective (GS 79% compared to celebrex 69%) is huge, and if made in a lab who could market it as the ‘new’ hot stuff, it would fetch pretty big bucks.
But since even walmart got its home brand that’s sold cheap, GS and chondroitin are misquoted in the newspaper so people will think it’s just a sugar and flour pill… Call me crazy but this is desinformation at it’s best
I think it’s one of the most effective supplements out there. I don’t care what the studies say either way. It works.
Maybe this study was biased towards doctors and pharmaceutical drugs, and against glucosamine chondroiton because people buying it will be less likely to visit doctors.
A few months ago my elbows would hurt while doing weighted dips, but the pain went away when I took glucosamine chondroiton. I’m not going to rely on some professor to tell me how I’m supposed to feel.
[quote]wrestler189 wrote:
Maybe this study was biased towards doctors and pharmaceutical drugs, and against glucosamine chondroiton because people buying it will be less likely to visit doctors.[/quote]
if it was biased towards the drug wouldnt the drug provide better results?
what the trial didnt actually say is what the placebo group actually got, as the results of the celebrex and GS/CS combo did not really outperform placebo anywhere near as much as other trials have shown.
I had been taking it for 2-3 years to help with knee pain associated to playing basketball. It felt like it helped but not that much. Recently I stopped taking it for what reason, I don’t know. Now when I play, the next day my knees ache like crazy. Needless to say I started taking it again. I won’t make that mistake again.
During my junior football season, I tore my meniscus. About two months after my surgery (Christmas time) my mother bought a thing of GC for me to use. It seemed to work for a while, even to help keep swelling down. After a while though, it lost it’s effect, and shortly after I stopped taking GC, which was this past July, my knee healed completely. I’m pretty sure it didn’t have anything to do with Glucosamine Condroitin though…Just some info to offer.