Study shatters Arthritis patients' blind faith in Chondroitin

Chondroitin, the hot-selling dietary supplement used by millions of arthritis patients in US is, in fact, of little help to most people with mild arthritis, concludes an analysis of 20 studies published in Tuesday's (April, 17) issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

According to Swiss researchers, for most arthritis patients suffering with hip or knee pain from osteoarthritis (chronic degeneration of the cartilage of the joints) the health food store supplement, Chondroitin turned out to be no better than a placebo.

Chondroitin is a cartilage extract, selling, often combined with glucosamine, across America through health food stores, pharmacies and online.

After combining results from recent large-scale studies on chondroitin's effectiveness, the researchers found that people taking chondroitin had no better improvement in joint health or pain relief than those taking the placebo, shattering American consumers trust in the product.

To reach their conclusion, Dr. Peter Juni and Dr. Stephen Reichenbach, both from the University of Berne, Switzerland, and colleagues reviewed data from 20 trials that included more than 3,600 patients with osteoarthritis.

They compared chondroitin to placebo or no treatment in the trials and after analyzing the results they found no evidence demonstrating any pain-relieving effect of chondroitin for early osteoarthritis, thus suggested that chondroitin may not offer any real benefit.

"The longer you look and the more rigorously you look, the less effect you see," said Dr. Juni. "We shouldn't expect that this is a magic bullet - it isn't."

The researchers found neither chondroitin nor glucosamine, an amino sugar, alone, nor the two in combination were better than a placebo for arthritis pain.

Although chondroitin is safe, but the Swiss team says “For patients with advanced osteoarthritis, a clinically relevant benefit is unlikely and the use of chondroitin should be discouraged,” the study said.

People swear that it is very good at easing their arthritis pain, but Juni suggested that they swear by chondroitin as a treatment because osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis seen especially in older people, is a condition that does not progress invariably toward more severe symptoms.

In a response to the current study, the Natural Products Association, an industry group, said that the research has indicated that chondroitin, especially when taken with glucosamine, has shown a benefit for those suffering from osteoarthritis, while to discourage its use as a treatment option is ill-judged, especially when the alternatives are limited or nonexistent.

"Bottom line, chondroitin, especially when combined with glucosamine, is safe and effective, and compared to the other options for arthritis pain, it's one of the few options without dangerous side effects," said Daniel Fabricant, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the association.

More than 21 million Americans have osteoarthritis today, experts say, and the figure is expected to grow rapidly as baby boomers age and US people in general continue to gain weight.

Arthritis mainly affects joints like the knees and hips through the loss of cartilage. Chondroitin is a component of cartilage, and the recommendations have been that it might actually improve the cartilage of people who take it.

Experts estimate that U.S. sales of chondroitin-glucosamine supplements, usually sold in combination, now top $1 billion per year.