Glucosamine was introduced to the world as a supplementary diet product, capable of performing the tasks of a pain killer for Arthritic patients. As any other new product in the market, Glucosamine found itself in the midst of a sea of controversy. World wide research were conducted to provide evidence supporting and against this supplement. In the quest to find the truth scientist, landed on controversial results.
Finally the US National Institutes of Health decided to put a full stop to this confusion and funded a large research project. Patients were tested with placebo, celecoxib, Glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate and a combination of Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate. The results were mostly in favour of celecoxib but were considered rather unreliable since most patients presented themselves with mild pain. When the same study was conducted on a group of patients with moderate and severe pain, some relief was evident. Finally it was concluded that a combination of Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate yield better relief than Placebo.
Nevertheless, these results were not accepted completely. The scientific folk were not satisfied. They continued to perform researches, which once again provided negative and positive results. Though people have not been able to get to the bottom of this query, medical practitioners continue to prescribe Glucosamine supplements as part of their treatment and they’ve got the Osteoarthritis Research Society International to back them up. According to the OARSI, Glucosamine supplements are the next best treatment available for Osteoarthritis patients and second in line in terms of effectiveness.
Another common misconception among people is that Glucosamine alone can relieve the pain. It is very important to register this fact in your mind that Glucosamine is only a supplement. Simply taking it will not solve all your problems. You might also need to consider the fact that all Glucosamine tablets are not produced by the same company. The quality of the supplement may vary from one company to another.
They say good things don’t come cheap. Some companies may try to reduce the quality in order to be more cost effective and the best compound name might have to carry the entire blame. Apart from this, certain researchers claim that, though Glucosamine can relieve pain, there is no guarantee it will be beneficial on the long run.
People will continue to make statements and you are going to come across these claims where ever you go. But what matters is the Doctor’s belief in what’s best for you. The way one person reacts to a particular medicine is different from another. Therefore let the Doctor make the call for you and if Glucosamine is in your prescription, just believe in the good.