GLUCOSAMINE GARNERS SUPPORT
FROM MAJOR EUROPEAN TRIAL
For the swathe of arthritis sufferers who have put their faith in glucosamine for the relief of joint pain, findings from a major European study will come as a welcome, but unsurprising, endorsement of their choice.
The GUIDE (Glucosamine Unum in Die Efficacy) trial is one of two major studies into the efficacy of this natural treatment for the relief of osteoarthritis (OA) that were presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in November 2005. Both were conducted using rigorous scientific methodology and both reported positive results for glucosamine. (For information on the American GAIT trial, visit www.gaittrial.co.uk).
Conducted by researchers in several centres in Spain and Portugal, the six-month-long GUIDE study measured the effects of glucosamine against paracetamol (acetaminophen) or placebo in people with knee OA. (Paracetamol is the first-line treatment preferred by many rheumatologists for the relief of chronic pain.)
The European researchers found that glucosamine relieved pain significantly better than paracetamol or placebo. They concluded “The findings of this study indicated that glucosamine sulfate at the oral once-daily dosage of 1,500mg is more effective than placebo in treating knee OA symptoms. Although acetaminophen also had a higher responder rate compared with placebo, it failed to show significant effects on the algofunctional indexes.”
These new findings follow an updated review of glucosamine from Bandolier, an independent journal about evidence-based healthcare written by Oxford scientists and considered the premier source of evidence-based healthcare information worldwide, which noted that findings have shown a clear disease-modifying effect, as well as showing improvements in pain and functioning and an absence of long-term harm.
Findings are published in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, the official peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Rheumatology published by Wiley InterScience [www3.interscience.wiley.com] reference Vol.56, No.2, February 2007, pp 555-567