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WEDNESDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- The dietary supplements glucosamine and chondroitin, taken by millions of people with aching knees, don't do much to help those with arthritis, a carefully controlled study finds.
However, there's some evidence that these non-prescription medications might yet be helpful in easing more severe cases, two experts said.
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Additionally, one of the physicians questions whether the study used the correct supplement combination to determine their effectiveness in fighting pain.
These assessments come from the doctor who led the study and one who wrote an editorial accompanying the report in the Feb. 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study enrolled 1,583 people, averaging 59 years of age, with knee pain caused by osteoarthritis, the wear-and-tear condition that often occurs in older people. Participants were divided into five groups: one group received 1,500 milligrams daily of glucosamine; another got 1,200 milligrams of chondroitin; a third group got both glucosamine and chondroitin; a fourth group received 200 milligrams of the prescription painkiller Celebrex; and the last group got a placebo.
The goal was to reduce knee pain by at least 20 percent.
Overall, the two supplements were not significantly better than placebo in reaching that 20 percent goal. But the researchers added there were indications some people with more severe pain might have benefited from the supplements.
Many more people with moderate to severe pain reported benefit from the combination of both supplements (79.2 percent) than with placebo (54.3 percent). And it is that response that interested study author Dr. Daniel O. Clegg, chief of rheumatology at the University of Utah School of Medicine.
"That group needs to be studied better, and that is what I will pursue as a scientist," Clegg said.
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