Many of us have heard of, or tried, the above supplements for joint pains, with varying results.
A recent BMJ article provided the results of an observational study of over 500,000 British health service patients between 2006-10. Here is the NYT summary:
From this NYT article:
Glucosamine, the dietary supplement widely used for arthritic pain, may reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease, researchers report.
Scientists looked at 466,039 British men and women, ages 40 to 69, who were free of cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. Participants completed detailed health questionnaires that included information on the use of dietary supplements. Nearly 90,000 of them, or 19 percent, reported regular use of glucosamine. The study, in BMJ, tracked the participants’ health for an average of seven years.
Compared with those who did not use the supplement, glucosamine users had an 18 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease, and a 15 percent lower risk of any cardiovascular event. There was a weak association with a lowered risk for stroke.
The study controlled for diet, physical activity, smoking, disease history and other characteristics.
