Question

Can glucosamine sulfate help arthritis?

Answer

Glucosamine sulfate is manufactured synthetically, and is given as a dietary supplement, often with chondroitin sulfate. Both have been claimed to be medical miracles that can halt, reverse and may even cure osteoarthritis.

Certainly glucosamine possesses mild anti-inflammatory activity, with a mechanism of action that is different from other arthritis tablets. Glucosamine is one of the basic constituents of the disaccharide units of articular cartilage. There have been several clinical trials to test its efficacy in arthritis, but all of them have design flaws and none were long term. Often the glucosamine was injected into the joint or into muscles rather than taken orally. Nevertheless there is some evidence from these studies that glucosamine will help arthritis, and that it does so in a different way to the standard drugs used for the condition. However, one should be cautious about the claims. It is probably no more effective than other existing treatments and there have been a few reports of adverse reactions. The cost of glucosamine is not cheap.

So overall, glucosamine sulfate may benefit patients who suffer from osteoarthritis, producing a progressive and gradual reduction of articular pain and tenderness, improving mobility, with probably sustained improvement after drug withdrawal. However the absolute proof of effect has not been obtained. There is no rigorously conducted long term study evaluating its therapeutic benefits or toxic effects in people with osteoarthritis.

You may be interested in the following publications:

C A Heyneman. R S Rhodes. Glucosamine for arthritis: Cure or Conundrum. Annals of Pharmacotherapy 1998:32;602-603

C C da Camara. G V Dowless. Glucosamine sulfate for arthritis. Annals of Pharmacotherapy 1998:32;580-587