Glucosamine, is it a good medicine for repairing joints, or a useless placebo? How to eat it correctly?

Aunt Zhang, because when she got up in the morning, she could always feel the joints were stiff, stiff, and limited in movement, so she went to the hospital to see her and was diagnosed with early osteoarthritis.

The doctor prescribed glucosamine sulfate for Aunt Zhang's situation. This reminded Aunt Zhang that her good sister also gave her an imported health product, the main ingredient of which was also glucosamine.

This made Aunt Zhang very curious, what exactly is this glucosamine? Is it really that effective for osteoarthritis? Should I take the health care products bought by my sister, or the medicine prescribed by the doctor?

1. Osteoarthritis has a high disability rate, ranking second in the world

The incidence of osteoarthritis is very high, especially in middle-aged and elderly patients. The prevalence rate is as high as 50% over the age of 65, and over 80% over the age of 75. It is estimated that the total number of patients with osteoarthritis in China has exceeded 150 million .

Simply put, osteoarthritis is an inflammatory disease that occurs in human joints and their surrounding tissues and is caused by factors such as inflammation, infection, and degeneration . Its morbidity rate is extremely high, ranking second in the world . When the disease occurs, patients not only have to endure severe pain, but their normal activities are also restricted, and life treatment is greatly reduced.

What is even more troublesome is that although osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease, it has become younger in recent years, especially women, who are more likely to suffer from osteoarthritis, which is about 1.85 times that of men.

This is mainly because women increase with age, especially after the age of 45, the estrogen level in the body drops sharply, resulting in gradually apparent osteoporosis, which is prone to uneven load on the inner and outer sides of the knee joint, eventually causing articular cartilage damage, and Osteoarthritis.

2. Is glucosamine a "lubricant" for repairing joints?

At the current medical level, the main treatment methods for osteoarthritis include relieving pain symptoms, slowing down the progression of the disease as much as possible, and surgically correcting deformity to improve or restore joint function. Among them, glucosamine is the most commonly used drug.

Glucosamine, the full name of glucosamine, is an essential nutrient for the formation of chondrocytes and a natural tissue component of articular cartilage. If it is lacking, it will easily lead to wear of articular cartilage, loss of synovial fluid, and induce diseases such as osteoarthritis .

Common glucosamine preparations include glucosamine sulfate and glucosamine hydrochloride, which can be used as medicine and health food in China.

However, it should be emphasized that glucosamine health products cannot replace drugs, but can only be used as dietary supplements . Blind use may cause side effects such as nausea, constipation, bloating, and diarrhea, so it is recommended to take them under the guidance of a doctor.

Can taking glucosamine really relieve the symptoms of joint pain?

The National Institutes of Health of the United States conducted a randomized controlled trial for this purpose, recruiting 662 participants to take 1500mg of glucosamine or 1500mg of glucosamine + 1200mg of chondroitin per day within 6 months.

After 2 years of follow-up, it was found that the knee pain symptoms of these volunteers were slightly relieved, but the effect was not as good as that of the placebo group, especially among patients with moderate to severe joints, the difference was more obvious.

Therefore, patients with osteoarthritis can try to take glucosamine , but consult a doctor before taking it. If you do not see the effect after taking it, it is not recommended to continue taking it. For people without joint problems, it is not recommended to supplement Glucosamine, and it is not recommended for the elderly to take glucosamine to prevent osteoarthritis.

3. Joint pain, is it enough to eat glucosamine?

At present, the treatment of osteoarthritis mainly includes basic treatment, drug treatment, surgical treatment, etc. Among them, the drug treatment should follow the principle of step-by-step. Wang Jian, deputy director of the joint surgery department of Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, reminded that different drugs are used for different degrees of pain. Pay attention to individualized medicine.

① Stepped drug use

The use of painkillers in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis is mainly for pain relief and anti-inflammation. Only by eliminating inflammation can it help relieve the pain symptoms of patients.

Medication is mainly divided into 3 phases: acetaminophen - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - opioids .

**## ②Local analgesia for joints

Use drugs with analgesic effect, including latex, ointment, patch and capsaicin of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, etc., to effectively help relieve pain quickly.

It should be noted that in order to achieve the analgesic effect, the dosage should be sufficient, but it is generally not recommended to use it for more than 12 hours.

③Intra-articular injection

There are generally two options: one is hormone plus a small amount of anesthetic, that is, "sealed"; the other is sodium hyaluronate, "lubricating the joints".

**## ④ Chondroprotectant

Including glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, doxycycline , etc. Generally speaking, glucosamine is mainly used clinically to improve and protect articular cartilage, but to relieve joint pain, targeted medication is required.

**In addition, the daily care of osteoarthritis is also very important, usually do these 2 points:

1. Maintain a healthy weight and diet

People who are overweight also bear a relatively large load on the joints, which can accelerate the progression of osteoarthritis. Therefore, if you are overweight, you should exercise and adjust your diet in time to lose weight.

In terms of diet, try to achieve a balanced diet, eat more fruits and vegetables, eat less animal oil, offal, and limit sugar intake.

2. Actively participate in sports

This also helps in strengthening the muscles around the joints, blood flow, thus protecting our joints. But exercise also pays attention to methods. You should try to avoid long-term running, jumping, squatting and other movements, such as long-distance running, long-term square dancing, and zama step, so as not to increase the load on the joints.

In addition, when exercising, we can also use auxiliary facilities such as knee pads and handles to assist joint movement, thereby protecting our joints.

3. Pay attention to cold protection and keep warm

Especially in summer, do not stay in an air-conditioned room for a long time, and do not eat cold food such as cold drinks frequently, because cold and humidity will also accelerate joint degeneration, so it is very important to keep warm properly if you want to protect your joints.

In addition, when carrying heavy objects, pay attention to keeping them at waist height, and it is best not to carry things up and down the stairs.

Summary: Osteoarthritis has a high incidence and has a great impact on the lives of patients after the onset, so once the onset occurs, timely treatment is critical. The treatment of osteoarthritis requires targeted medication instead of simply using glucosamine. In short, everyone should follow the doctor's advice.

References:

[1] "The total number of patients exceeds 150 million! Don’t Procrastinate Osteoarthritis”. Service Number of Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. 2021-11-06

[2] "Poor joints, is "glucosamine" useful?" ". Nutritionist Gu Zhongyi. 2020-11-05

[3] "Stairway Drug Therapy for Osteoarthritis, a comprehensive interpretation of the article! ". There are clouds in bone language. 2022-02-21

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