Popular supplements fail to ease arthritis pain

updated 12:13 p.m. ET March 1, 2006

For many arthritis sufferers, there has been a long and frustrating search for the best and safest pain relief. For some, the quest seemed to lead to a health store for supplements.

But the largest and most rigorous study so far suggests the salve for mildly aching knees doesn’t lie there. The popular supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate — once used even by President Bush — were no better than dummy pills at pain relief, government researchers concluded.

At the same time, the supplements did seem to help people with more severe arthritis, although more research is needed.

“We still have a bit of a conundrum,” said Dr. Tim McAlindon, a Tufts University rheumatologist who had no role in the new study.

The long-awaited research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is the latest effort by the government to scrutinize these untested health remedies.

Lead researcher Dr. Daniel Clegg of the University of Utah suggested people with severe arthritis talk to their doctors about trying the supplements short-term to see if they work.

Dr. John Klippel, president of the Arthritis Foundation, said arthritis sufferers should not necessarily abandon glucosamine and chondroitin.

“Supplements continue to be an important option for some people,” he said. “We’re reminding people there are lots of choices that people need to make and supplements are one of them.”

The foundation recommended that arthritis patients speak to their doctors about whether the combined supplements might help their overall treatment. Generally, arthritis patients are urged to exercise, keep their weight down and try hot and cold therapy, along with painkillers if needed.

More than 20 million Americans suffer from osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. That number is expected to double in the next two decades as baby boomers age. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that affects the knees, hips, back and the small joints in the fingers.

The search for pain relief helped boost worldwide sales of glucosamine and chondroitin to $1.7 billion last year, according to the Nutrition Business Journal, which tracks supplements. The supplements — made from animal cartilage and shellfish — have had even wider appeal amid safety concerns over certain painkillers, including the arthritis medicine Vioxx, which was yanked from the market in 2004.

At least 5 million Americans use the two supplements either alone or together, government figures show. President Bush has acknowledged taking the combination supplements to ease stiffness in his joints from running, but he no longer uses them.

The supplements showed no known side effects during the government’s six-month study, but the scientists didn’t address the safety of longer-term use.

The arthritis research, published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine, is the third major study in a year to find no overall benefit from some of the most popular nutritional supplements. Recently, research showed the herb saw palmetto didn’t reduce symptoms of an enlarged prostate, and last year a study indicated echinacea didn’t prevent or treat colds.

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