Glucosamine

In July 2007 I was fortunate enough to attend a conference titled 'Joints, Preventing Surgery, The Alternative Treatments'. One of the most interesting items discussed was the use of the supplent glucosamine to help people with wearing joints. The consultant hip surgeon stated that 90% of his patients took glucosamine and half of them reported that it was as effective for pain relief as pain killers. As a result he takes glucosamine on the reccomendation of his patients!

Diane Black and Joy Smith in Sports Injury Bulletin Feb 2006 reported on research into glucosamine.
It is widely believed by therapists and the public that glucosamine on its own or combined with chondroitin can relieve arthritic joint pain by helping to promote cartilage repair. However Black and Smith state that there is no reputable study that explains how glucosamine or chondroitin work in the body.
Many of the studies reported in recent years have not been scientifically valid.
There has been a study launched in 2000 by The US National Institutes of Health which Black and Smith describe as the gold standard.
This study split the group of 1,583 into four groups:
1 glucosamine hydrochloride
2 chondroitin
3 glucosamine and chondroitin
4 anti-inflammatory painkiller
5 placebo

The initial results were presented at The American College of Rheumatology in Nov 2005.
Overall there was no difference in pain reduction between the groups. However when a subgroup of people with moderate to severe osteoarthritis was looked at they were found to have a significant improvement with glucosamine and chondroitin together.
A further study in Spain in 2003 found a sinificant reduction in pain in a group using glucosamine sulphate. It is the use of glucosamine sulphate as opposed to glucosamine hydrochloride that the Spanish study reckons gives it better results.

There is still no real proof of the benefits of glucosamine, but there is a small amount of evidence to support the use of glucosamine sulphate or glucosamine hydrochloride with chondroitin to reduce pain in osteoarthritis.

The conference on alternatives to surgery provided many more pieces of information. Rheumatologist Professor Paul Thompson described the tremendous improvement in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, but emphasised it was important to catch it early for the beat results.
Physiotherapist Tom Wainwright explained the great benefits of walking poles stating that using them can reduce the load on the spine by 30-40%.
Everyone was nervous when Bonnie Southgate did her presentation about Pilates because she made everyone think about posture. None of us had perfect posture!
The final piece I'll mention from the conference was by Dr. DesMcCann. He explained about the huge benefits in wound healing from using a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. This is what David Beckham and Wayne Rooney used to help speed up the repair process when they broke their metatarsals. The chamber is also used to treat divers with the bends and people with carbonmonoxide poisoning. If you're in need there's one in Poole.