Knee Pain: Glucosamine Doesn’t Cut It

It’s been said before, and now it’s said again, and backed by a 24-week study, 1,583 patient study, whose results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine: glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate do very little to relieve the pain of arthritic knees. The New York Times reports that patients in the study were randomly assigned to one of five groups. Some patients took
glucosamine, some took chondroitin and some took both. Others, serving
as comparison subjects, took a placebo or celecoxib, sold as Celebrex,
a prescription drug that is approved for osteoarthritis. The Times also reports that in 2004, Americans spent about $724 million on on glucosamine and chondroitin, and that many arthritis patients still swear by the supplements, which cost $30 to $50 a month.