This is a gift for my father-in-law. It is a supply of glucosamine
and chondroitin for a whole year. He is taking two tablets a day for the past year
and he said he noticed a big pain relief in his knee pain which is due to osteoarthritis.
A lot of people ask my opinion about glucosamine and chondroitin for osteoarthritis.
In this video, I will give you my honest opinion.
The scientific evidence is not too exciting, but it seems that glucosamine and chondroitin
have some role to play in the treatment of osteoarthritis.
So, let’s talk today about GLUCOSAMINE AND CHONDROITIN FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS
Osteoarthritis is a chronic, slow progressing, insidious, disease of the
cartilage that covers the bone surfaces. We have cartilages in most of the joints
of our body, including the knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, fingers,
temporomandibular joint and even in the spine. This is the knee. The cartilage is
this part that protects the bones from rubbing against each other.
When Osteoarthritis starts, it destroys the cartilage and causes pain, stiffness,
and deformity. When osteoarthritis affects the spine, we call it spondylosis.
Osteoarthritis is a progressive disease caused by slow and microscopic inflammation. The destruction
of the cartilage can be seen in x-rays like this. Here is a knee. The Femur, the tibia and the
fibula. You see the reduced space between the femur and the tibia? That is because
of the destruction of the protective cartilage. Here is an x-ray of a hand with osteoarthritis,
and we can see the deformities caused by arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is mostly determined by your genetics,
so if you have family members with osteoarthritis, your chances are higher to develop this disease.
But there are other factors that accelerate the process, and include obesity, smoking,
trauma to the joint and other joint diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
We know that there are a few things that we can do to slow the progression of osteoarthritis,
and these include > regular low-impact physical activity,
weight loss, and adequate nutrition with an anti-inflammatory diet.
Scientists are trying to find a medication that would stop the progression of osteoarthritis.
We know that anti-inflammatories are effective to reduce the pain from osteoarthritis.
>These are medications like ibuprofen, diclofenac, ketoprofen, and celecoxib. But we
know that anti-inflammatories have side effects like gastro-intestinal bleeding, and they are
contra-indicated in people who have heart disease, high blood pressure or kidney insufficiency.
Scientists discovered that there is a substance in the joint, called glucosamine,
and it is important to maintain a healthy cartilage. There is another substance called
chondroitin that is a component of the cartilage. So, it seems that if you ingest glucosamine,
chondroitin, or both, the cartilages in your body will become healthier.
However, once the destruction of the cartilage starts, it is very hard for the
body to heal itself and make new cartilage. We know that the cartilage is nurtured by
the synovial fluid that is produced by the joint capsule. And if we move that joint, more synovial
fluid is produced, therefore, bringing more natural nutrition to the cartilage.
How does our body produce our own glucosamine and chondroitin? The answer is movement. If we
use the joint properly, with proper exercises, we will produce our own glucosamine and chondroitin.
I have another video where I show exercises for osteoarthritis of the hips and knees,
and I explain that Motion is Lotion. But do we actually need to ingest
more glucosamine and chondroitin to nurture the cartilage in our joints?
There are two types of glucosamine: glucosamine sulphate that can be derived from natural sources
like shellfish, but it can also be made in laboratory. And the other type is glucosamine
hydrochloride. Some clinical trials compared one to another and did not find any difference
in efficacy, however some people would suggest that the natural sources are better absorbed
by the body. However, people with allergies to shellfish or seafood need to be careful.
How much of glucosamine and chondroitin a person need to take to feel the benefits? And
for how long? Those are very good questions, because it takes months for the benefits
of the glucosamine and chondroitin to be noticed. It is not like a painkiller that you take now and
start feeling better in a few hours. However, did you know that there are some
people who should not be taking glucosamine? I’ll talk about this at the end of this video.
Regarding the dose, the person needs to take 1500 mg of glucosamine per day, and
1200 mg of chondroitin per day. The studies that showed beneficial effects for pain recommended
for around 6 months. and it seems that taking them together is better than only taking one. However,
there are other studies that showed no real difference from placebo. The results of various
studies are conflicting. So, how will you know
if they work for you or not? Well, basically you need to do a before-and-after trial on yourself.
Always talk to your doctor or pharmacist before you start taking these supplements.
Before your first dose, you are going to take a measure of your pain.
You can download these 4 questions from a document that I posted below this video.
Go to the description of this video and check the link to the FOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT PAIN INTENSITY.
Don’t forget to print 2 copies, you will need
one in 6 months from now. Or you can get a piece of paper
now and write these 4 questions: Question 1) In the last 24 hours,
rate your pain by circling ONLY ONE number that best describes your pain at its worst:
0 is no pain and 10 is pain as bad as you can imagine
Question 2) In the last 24 hours, rate your pain by circling ONLY ONE number that
best describes your pain at its best, or the least pain that you had in the past 24 hours:
0 is no pain and 10 is pain as bad as you can imagine
Question 3) In the last 24 hours,
rate your pain by circling ONLY ONE number that best describes your pain on average:
0 is no pain and 10 is pain as bad as you can imagine
Question 4) Rate your pain by circling ONLY ONE number that best describes your pain right now:
0 is no pain and 10 is pain as bad as you can imagine
After you answer these questions, fold this paper and put it inside an envelope.
Date it. Fold the other paper, the blank questions that you will need in 6 months from now.
Store them in a place that you will remember. Now you can start taking the glucosamine with
chondroitin. Take them every day for 6 months. Then you will complete the 4 questions again.
How will you calculate if this treatment has been effective for you or not?
You will add all the numbers that you gave before the trial,
so let’s say that you said 10 to all four questions. Your score before the
trial of glucosamine/chondroitin is 40. Now, add all the numbers that you gave after 6 months.
Let’s say that your numbers are 8 for everything, the total is 32.
You are going to get a calculator and divide 32 by 40, that is 0.8, or eighty percent.
Now, you subtract 100% minus 80%, you get 20% pain relief. Twenty percent is the
minimum that you need to achieve to say that this treatment has been effective for you.
Why 20%? That is the number the scientists chose in the randomized trials to show that glucosamine
and chondroitin was effective to reduce pain. In a large, multicenter study conducted in the US,
they set the threshold of 20% as the minimum that a person had to improve
to be considered a good response. In the Glucosamine/chondroitin Arthritis Intervention
Trial (GAIT) they found that 64% of people who took glucosamine only achieved that threshold of
20% pain relief. That is good, isn’t it? 65% of people who took chondroitin
sulphate only achieved that threshold. Wow! What do you think happened when they gave
both glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulphate? The number of people was 67%.
And with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory celecoxib it was 70%
Now, pay attention, what do you think was the percentage of people that achieved the 20%
pain relief with placebo? Placebo is a pill that doesn’t contain any medicine in it, but the person
thinks they are taking the real drug. Well, it was 60%.
In the same study, they found that the group of people with more severe knee
osteoarthritis responded better. Among the group of people who had
moderate-to-severe pain at the start of the study, these are the proportion who had at least
20% pain reduction: 66 percent for glucosamine only, 61 percent for chondroitin only, 79
percent for the two combined, 69 percent for celecoxib, 54 percent for placebo
So, If your pain reduction is less than 20%, you can stop wasting your money and invest on
something else that might be much better, like buying a high-quality extra virgin cold-press
olive oil or buying a big cod fish and cooking tonight, because those things contain healthy
anti-inflammatory substances that we know are very good to keep the cartilage healthy and happy.
Both glucosamine and chondroitin are relatively safe, which means they don’t cause serious adverse
effects like non-steroidal anti-inflammatories or opioids. However, glucosamine and chondroitin can
interact with blood thinners like warfarin or coumadin, and they can also affect blood
sugars. there is some suggestion that they may increase eye pressure, which could increase the
risk of glaucoma. So, if you use warfarin, or you have diabetes or glaucoma, it is better to
avoid these substances or talk to your doctor or pharmacist before you start using them.
If you have another supplement that you would like me to review in a video, just write down your
suggestion in the comment box below. I already have another video about Vitamin D and Magnesium.
Please, don’t forget that this video is for educational purpose only.
If you have a condition that needs medical advice, please talk to your doctor. And if there is an
emergency, go to the nearest emergency department. If you like this video, give a thumbs up here,
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Thank you for watching. Good bye.