Below is an overview of the audio content of this video. Watch the video above to see graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes as Dr. Greger mentions them.
Chondroitin is a structural component of cartilage, commonly used as a dietary supplement for osteoarthritis, and shares a similar story with glucosamine. There is great heterogeneity in outcomes, with industry-funded studies showing benefits for symptom relief; rain-No effect in industry funded studies, small effect size similar to glucosamine. Considering the largest and best-executed studies, the benefits of chondroitin have been found to be “minimal or non-existent” and “therefore, the use of chondroitin should be discouraged.” [should] “Be discouraged.”
As with glucosamine, current American College of Rheumatology guidelines, along with the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and the International Society for the Study of Osteoarthritis, “strongly recommend” the use of chondroitin for knee or hip osteoarthritis, while the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Disorders Pharmaceutical grade prescription chondroitin is again permitted.
Chondroitin is typically derived from animal cartilage (shark fin, cow and chicken trachea, pig nose) and the slaughterhouse supply chain is not known for “good manufacturing practices.” The lack of purity and presence of contaminants is partly due to the lack of consistent reproducibility. A study of 32 commercially available chondroitin supplements found that only five contained the stated amounts, and some contained none at all. Terms such as “tested quality” or retail price have not been shown to provide a basis for judging quality. part The cheapest and most expensive chondroitin on the market contain less than 10% actual chondroitin.
When the National Institutes of Health began designing the respected GAIT trial, the Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial, it abandoned 20 commercial products due to issues such as quality control and created its own special trial. I decided to make it happen. More than 1,500 patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to take either glucosamine, chondroitin, a standard daily dose of glucosamine and chondroitin, an NSAID anti-inflammatory drug, or a placebo for six months. Only this drug outperformed placebo for pain management. Glucosamine and chondroitin, used alone or in combination, do not effectively reduce pain and are not significantly effective in slowing disease progression on x-rays. Chondroitin also failed in another two-year study. However, two other trials found objective benefits up to two years, and a third trial using more sensitive imaging (MRI) found protection up to six months. If you want to give it a try, there are non-animal sources of chondroitin that are purified from scratch and free of contaminants.
In the United States, chondroitin and glucosamine are almost always sold as combination pills. As in the GAIT trial, a meta-analysis of studies comparing both against osteoarthritis found no clinically significant benefit. However, a pharmaceutical-grade, prescription-only preparation is available. both A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial had to be stopped early because one group performed so much better than the other that it was deemed unethical to continue. See how many more treatments are available to reduce pain. But the superior treatment was a placebo! Surprisingly, the placebo group did better when the code was broken! In other words, an industry-funded study found that their pharmaceutical grade chondroitin/glucosamine caused significant pain. worse Compare to sugar pills. In the sugar pill group, 47% had at least a 50% improvement in pain or function, compared with only 28% in the chondroitin/glucosamine group. Chondroitin/Glucosamine Users did Because they have more side effects, such as diarrhea and stomach upset, doctors may tell patients to stop taking glucosamine and chondroitin because they are less effective than placebo.
Please consider resource To provide assistance on the site.