Glucosamine and Common Knowledge

We’ve been spending a lot of time on back pain here at The Pain Center of Arizona, but it’s all for good reason. Chronic back pain is one of the painful conditions that we see a lot of, so it’s important to keep our patients and web friends informed about how to stay healthy and avoid this kind of pain.



Some new research has emerged that we thought we’d take a moment to update you on. It’s “common knowledge” that glucosamine helps to relieve back and joint pain, right? Well, as my favorite TV news anchor always says, “if’s it’s known to be common knowledge, it’s probably not true.”



My parents have an old cattle dog that’s about eleven years old. He has always been spoiled, so his weight, and ultimately health, has been failing recently. Much like with us humans, the lack of exercise throughout his life and the abundance of bad foods has made getting around the house tough for him at his old age. So, my parents give him glucosamine every morning to ease his joint pain. Does it work? Perhaps. He does always seem a bit more frisky after he gets his morning pill, but then again it could be because he gets it wrapped in cheese.



According to the new research posted in the Journal of the American Medical Association, glucosamine worked no better than a placebo in treating back pain. The research, carried out at a Norwegian clinic in Oslo, was a double-blind, randomized test including 250 adults. Half of the patients were randomly issued to take 1,500 milligrams of glucosamine for six months, while the other half took a placebo. The patients were analyzed at regular intervals, and at the end of the study described the glucosamine just as useful at lowering pain as the placebo, according to ObserveNews.com



Just because something’s common knowledge doesn’t necessarily make it the truth, and in this case the truth might be that common knowledge about glucosamine for joint pain might be wrong. Glucosamine is “believed to work by lowering inflammation and restoring lost cartilage.” However, the new research conducted by Norwegian scientists is proving differently.



If glucosamine is something that you’re using, or giving to your pet, and it seems to be working, than continue to use it. Above all, and as always, speak to your pain specialist or family physician about pain management.