Home > News & Events > NIH Radio > February 2006 Audio Reports

NIH Radio

Study Indicates Dietary Supplement Provides Pain Relief to Some

Right Click to Download MP3 File

Brief Description:
Although an earlier study published by the New England Journal of Medicine showed that a popular dietary supplement combination of glucosamine plus chondroitin sulfate did not provide significant relief from osteoarthritis pain among all patients, a similar study, funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, showed that a smaller subgroup of patients with a moderate degree of pain did get significant relief with the combined supplements.

Transcript:
Akinso: Although an earlier study published by the New England Journal of Medicine showed that a popular dietary supplement combination of glucosamine plus chondroitin sulfate did not provide significant relief from osteoarthritis pain among all patients, a similar study, funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, showed that a smaller subgroup of patients with a moderate degree of pain did get significant relief with the combined supplements. The study, Glucosamine/chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial, known as "GAIT" enrolled nearly 1,600 participants with osteoarthritis of the knee. Doctor Daniel Clegg, Principal Investigator, talked about the findings of the study during a recent teleconference.

Clegg: "It was found that patients who had moderate-to-severe knee pain and received the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate experienced clinically and statistically significant improvement in their knee pain. Even though those patients were assigned to treatment groups prior to starting medication, the study was not designed to conclusively demonstrate this finding and the results should be interpreted with caution.

Akinso: The patients were randomly assigned to receive one of five treatments daily for 24 weeks-glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine and chondroitin combined, a placebo, or the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication celecoxib. In the subgroup that had moderate-to-severe pain, the glucosamine combined with chondroitin sulfate provided statistically significant pain relief compared to placebo, however the participants that had mild pain did not provide statistically significant relief compared to placebo. Dr. Stephen Straus NCCAM's Director says it is important to study dietary supplements with well-designed research in order to find out what works and what does not.

Straus: This study GAIT is an example of our commitment to conducting complementary alternative medicine research that's fair, unbiased and scientifically rigorous. This is the largest study that NCCAM has had the pleasure of completing to date. And it represents a wonderful collaboration with our partner institute, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases."

Akinso: The GAIT team continues their research with a smaller study to see whether glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate can alter the progression of osteoarthritis, such as by delaying the narrowing of the joint spaces. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Maryland.

This page was last reviewed on June 27, 2006 .

[ Q&A About NIH | Jobs at NIH | Visitor Information | FOIA ]
[ Telephone & Service Directory | Employee Information | Información en español ]

[ Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Disclaimers | Accessibility | Site Map | Search ]

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Department of Health
and Human Services