To determine the effectiveness of oral
glucosamine with
ibuprofen for the relief of
joint pain in
osteoarthritis a mini-review (Griffiths, 2002) of double-blind randomized controlled trials comparing the two was undertaken. The population was adult patients diagnosed with
osteoarthritis at any site. The outcome was arthritic
pain reduction. Searches on Medline, Embase, AMED, the Cochrane Library and the Merck index identified four trials. Of these, two studies were obtainable and were included in the review. Both compared 1.2 g
ibuprofen daily with 1.5 g
glucosamine sulphate daily, in three divided doses. The combined number of participants in the studies was 218. The results of these studies showed
glucosamine to be of similar efficacy to
ibuprofen. The conclusion is that
glucosamine is effective in relieving
joint pain associated with
osteoarthritis.
Glucosamine's
pain-relieving effects may be due to its cartilage-rebuilding properties; these disease-modifying effects are not seen with simple
analgesics and are of particular benefit. In practice
glucosamine can be used as an alternative to anti-inflammatory drugs and
analgesics or as a useful adjunct to standard
analgesic therapy.