The Truth About Nontraditional Treatments.(Society)(seeking a cure for arthritis)(Brief Article)

In agony and desperate for relief, arthritis sufferers have been known to try just about anything. "Juanita," who posted the message, "A Crazy Arthritis 'Cure' " on a recipe-swapping Web site recently, says her friends swear by one bizarre remedy: slip a bar of soap in a sock, she advises, then put it in your bed.

At least the soap "cure" is inexpensive and free of side effects (other than a lumpy mattress). Many alternative arthritis treatments are useless at best, and dangerous at worst. But that doesn't stop millions of patients who are fed up with their traditional meds from falling prey to hucksters ready to feel their pain. In the last year Americans spent $1.2 billion on dietary supplements (though not all for arthritis), and millions more on everything from magic potions to lucky trinkets.

Some alternative treatments are promising. Two supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, are getting most of the attention. They were catapulted into the limelight with Jason Theodosakis's 1997 best seller, "The Arthritis Cure." Taken alone or together, glucosamine (extracted from crab, shrimp and lobster shells) and chondroitin sulfate (from cattle trachea) reduce joint pain in some patients. In the last year consumers have spent $405 million on glucosamines and chondroitins, up 21 percent from the year before. "This category," says Roberta Gaffga, senior VP of marketing at General Nutrition Centers, the dietary supplement chain, "is just going to explode."

But the supplements don't work for everyone. Data from trials on the supplements is mixed, and many of the studies were done by supplement manufacturers themselves. One promising recent study of 212 patients with osteoarthritis in the knee suggests that glucosamine may slow deterioration of cartilage, which no other treatment currently does. But the last word could come from the National Institutes of Health, which is now enrolling patients in a major, long-term, nationwide clinical trial of the supplements. The NIH is spending $14 million to review the supplements' effectiveness and safety, but its results aren't expected until 2005.

In the meantime, arthritis sufferers ...