Some Suffering Severe Pain Find Comfort In Dietary Supplements

BOSTON -- For the 21 million Americans who suffer from arthritis, safe and effective pain relief is hard to find.NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported Wednesday that when a major study by the National Institutes of Health found the dietary supplements Glucosamine and Chondroitin eased the pain for people with moderate to severe osteoarthritis, it should have been cause for celebration. Instead, it has sparked debate.In Europe they have been sold as drugs for decades, but in the United States Glucosamine and Chondroitin are dietary supplements and are not regulated by the government. Still, the combination is widely promoted in the United States as pain relief for osteoarthritis of the knee."It's one of the top selling supplements, certainly because it's effective," Johnson Drug's Stephen Bernardi said.But, no scientific evidence existed to back up claims of its effectiveness -- until the NIH Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT) study. Researchers followed more than 1,500 people with knee osteoarthritis over six months.They found that for the entire group, a combination of Glucosamine and Chondroitin had no more effect on pain than a placebo.But, when researchers narrowed the findings to the participants with moderate to severe pain, the results were much different. Seventy-nine percent of participants who took the supplements reported pain relief compared to 69 percent who took Celebrex and 54 percent who took a placebo."Unlike pain relievers, which just cover up the symptoms, taking Glucosamine and Chondroitin actually improves the health of the joints," said Dr. Jason Theodosakis, author of "The Arthritis Cure."But many doctors say the narrowed findings don't tell the whole story."The results just really weren't that impressive -- not impressive enough for me to suggest another pill to a patient who probably, given the population that has arthritis, is already on a lot of pills," Brigham and Women's Hospital Dr. Elinor Mody said.Years of running left Dr. Ronda Rockett with knee arthritis at a young age. Six months ago her doctor recommended she give up jogging, strengthen her muscles and take Glucosamine and Chondroitin."I definitely think this medication has helped me but the reality is, I've also had to do those other things in order to help my symptoms. So, I think it's a combination of the different therapeutic interventions," Rockett said.