Relief for your painful joints. (wellness).(glucosamine and chondroitin)(Brief Article)

Currently, some 20 million Americans stiffer from osteoarthritis (OA), a painful condition caused by a weakening of articular cartilage--a protective substance attached to the ends of bones that prevents them from rubbing together. Although over-the-counter and prescription medications can provide some relief from osteoarthritis pain, they can't cure the disease. The good news, however, is that two dietary supplements--glucosamine and chondroitin--have shown great promise not only in treating joint pain, but also in halting cartilage loss in OA sufferers.

Supplemental glucosamine is derived mostly from crab shells and chondroitin is derived from cow, fish or pork cartilage, but both substances also are produced in small amounts by our cartilage cells. In fact, they're key components to the structure of articular cartilage.

Sold as drugs in many European countries, glucosamine and chondroitin have undergone clinical trials and safety studies by each country's pharmaceutical governing agency. Studies show that both supplements: (1) are absorbed when taken orally; (2) benefit cartilage by several means; (3) decrease pain and improve joint function when compared with placebo or traditional drugs; (4) are safe for long-term use in humans; and (5) show a proven halting of cartilage loss in OA sufferers.

This last point has raised the biggest stir in the arthritis community, as glucosamine and chondroitin are the first substances known to actually help modify the disease condition. Two studies published in 1998 in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage documented significant benefit for chondroitin over placebo for knee and hand OA. Two larger glucosamine studies followed in 1999 and 2000 in the journals Lancet and Arthritis & Rheumatism. In 2001, a landmark study published in Clinical Orthopedic Related Research showed that combining the supplements works better than either one alone at preventing cartilage damage.

Taking both supplements orally, in daily doses of 1,500 mg for glucosamine and 1,200 mg for chondroitin, has been shown to help relieve pain and improve function in arthritic joints as well as--or better than--any pharmaceutical product they've been studied against.

But the supplements do more than control pain. Studies show ...