Low back pain 

Taking glucosamine supplements may not help relieve chronic low back pain and degenerative lumbar osteoarthritis, a new trial published in the July 7 issue of Journal of American Medical Association suggests.

The trial study showed the people taking glucosamine for six months did not seem to help people on the regimen to improve measures of pain related disability, low back pain, leg pain and health related quality of life, compared with those who received placebo.

More than 20 million people in the U.S. suffer osteoarthritis and low back pain is the second most common concern of patients in primary care, according to a release by the JAMA.  Glucosamine is commonly used as an alternative treatment, but its efficacy remains unknown.

For the trial, Philip Wilkens, M. Chiro., of Oslo University Hospital and University of Oslo, Norway, and colleagues randomly assigned 250 patients aged 25 or older with chronic low back pain and degenerative lumbar osteoarthritis with 1,500 mg of oral glucosamine or placebo every day for 6 months.

The outcomes were evaluated at the beginning of the trial, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and one year.

"No statistically significant difference in change between groups was found when assessed after the 6-month intervention period and at 1 year for RMDQ, and for measures of LBP at rest, LBP during activity and quality-of-life,"  JAMA says in its release.

RMDQ is the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire that yields a score to indicate the severity of the condition. A higher score means a more serious condition.

Low back pain can be treated with more than a dozen of alternative treatments including acupuncture, capsaicin cream, vitamin d, music therapy, vitamin b12, magnesium, willow bark, yoga for back pain, Bowen therapy, breathing techniques, massage therapy, chiropractic, Alexander Technique, Prolotherapy, and balneotherapy, according to about.com.

Knee osteoarthritis

Early studies showed that glucosamine sulphate is a highly cost-effective therapy alternative compared with paracetamol to treat patients with knee osteoarthritis, according to a report led by Scholtissen S and colleagues from the University of Liege in Belgium and published in the May 2010 issue of International Journal of Clinical Practice. 

Paracetamok or acetaminophen is used as an over-the-counter analgesic or pain reliever and antipyretic or fever reducer.

Dahmer S and Schiller R.M. of Beth Israel Center for Health and Healing in New York, New York published an article in the Aug 2008 issue of American family physician saying that the efficacy of glucosamine in treating knee arthritis is not clear, but there is no need to recommend against its use.

The authors said the popular dietary supplement sold in the U.S. is generally safe. But they said that glucosamine should be used with caution in patients with allergies to shellfish or asthma and those taking diabetes medications or warfarin.

Glucosamine sulphate seems to be effective in treating knee osteoarthritis, according to Reginster J.Y and colleagues of University of Liège, who reviewed the issue and published their paper in the May 2007 issue of Rheumatology.

European GUIDE medical investigation results suggest that using 1,500  mg per day of glucosamine sulfate is even more effective in treating knee osteoarthritis than acetaminophen, according to a press release by The American College of Rheumatology.

By Jimmy Downs