Glucosamine and Chondroitin

Chondroitin Sulfate exists naturally in your cartilage. It’s thought to draw fluid into the tissue to give our cartilage more elasticity and to slow cartilage breakdown by protecting it from destructive enzymes. As a supplement, it is exclusively derived from cattle sources and is often taken along with Glucosamine to assist with maintaining joint health. The combined use is known to produce a "synergistic" effect. It’s been prescribed for pain relief in osteoarthritis in some parts of Europe where it is a prescription drug for decades. If glucosamine is your #1 joint friend, chondroitin is #2.

Although Chondroitin alone hasn't been proven to help with or reverse cartilage loss, in some studies it appeared to help improve function and ease pain. In one placebo-controlled study, joint narrowing in the knee became stabilized in patients who were put on Chondroitin (Uebelhart) supplement. Another controlled study looked at osteoarthritis of the finger joints for a period of three years. Among the group that took chondroitin, there was a significant decrease in the number of patients with new erosions in their finger joints (Verbruggen).

Chondroitin in fact is a glycosaminoglycan (think long chains of glucosamine) that is concentrated in joint cartilage. Like glucosamine, chondroitin helps produce substances needed for the formation of connective tissue. In addition chondroitin (unlike glucosamine) may also have the ability to protect existing cartilage from prematurely breaking down by inhibiting cartilage-destroying enzymes.

How Does Chondroitin Work?

Chondroitin sulfates provide the structural components of joint cartilage, inhibit some free radical enzymes that degrade joint cartilage and collagen, and facilitate the entry of glucosamine into the joints. Like glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate attracts water into the cartilage matrix and stimulates the production of cartilage. It also appears to have the ability to prevent enzymes from dissolving cartilage. Recent studies have shown extremely good results from long-term use of chondroitin sulfate (alone and in combination with glucosamine) in increasing range of motion and overall joint health. Both glucosamine and chondroitin should be used together, however, to produce the best results.

How It’s Used

We suggest you take chondroitin as a liquid at the dose of 120mg a day, which does not need to be divided into two doses. It’s most often taken in combination with glucosamine, as a synergistic complex.

Using glucosamine and chondroitin in combination may be synergistic. Recently, more and more clinical trials have begun to support the benefits of glucosamine and chondroitin for overall joint health and resilience. One recent study appearing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (February 2003) found that general mobility improved over time in both a placebo group and the experimental group that was taking glucosamine. The results began to manifest after about four to eight weeks of use. The most significant benefits, according to the study, were in reducing the amount of perceived pain.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), along with the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), launched a major clinical trial to study the effect of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate compounds in patients with osteoarthritis. Both the agencies appear to believe that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are "effective treatments that are key to improving the quality of life of Americans affected by osteoarthritis." The results of this multi-center glucosamine study will be available in late 2005.

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