Alternative Medicines for Arthritis
Alternative Medicines for Arthritis
By Chris Woolston
CONSUMER HEALTH INTERACTIVE
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Contact No-1-800-262-2583
Alternative remedies for arthritis are nothing new. Folklore is full of potions and poultices that supposedly relieve joint pain, and the advent of modern medicine hasn't dampened the public's interest. If anything, arthritis patients are more adventuresome than ever before.
According to reports in the journal Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America, today's arthritis patients have been known to rub whiskey and actual snake oil into their joints. Some swear that drinking sour cherry juice relieves inflammation, and magnets and copper bracelets have become popular accessories for the same reason. Nutritional supplements for arthritis are a billion-dollar business. Finally, many chiropractors, homeopaths, and acupuncturists owe a large percentage of their livelihoods to joint pain.
It's no surprise that so many arthritis sufferers are willing to venture beyond the bounds of mainstream medicine, says John H. Klippel, MD, president of the Arthritis Foundation. With few exceptions, patients with arthritis are never completely cured by standard medicine. "Traditional treatments can relieve pain, but people still suffer," he says. In addition, today's patients aren't always willing to just sit back and take doctor's orders. "Many patients will try anything to take charge of their health."
Heading for the mainstream?
When this proactive attitude is backed up with caution and common sense, good things can sometimes happen, Klippel says. In some cases, he says, today's alternative medicine may someday be tomorrow's mainstream. Many rheumatologists (doctors who specialize in arthritis and other joint diseases) are very open to the idea of alternative medicine, he says. If any remedy can prove its worth in controlled clinical trials, doctors will quickly embrace it.
Unfortunately, most alternative remedies have rarely, if ever, been put to the scientific test. As reported in the Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America, popular treatments such as acupuncture and chiropractic are basically unproven. A few studies have shown some benefit from these treatments, but the results aren't consistent. While some patients swear by the results, doctors are still waiting for the hard data.
Of all of the alternative remedies for arthritis, glucosamine and chondroitin may be the closest to entering the mainstream. According to Klippel, preliminary studies have suggested that the supplements can relieve osteoarthritis, presumably by restoring cartilage. The supplements may even be able to slow down the advance of the disease, a claim that no current medication can make. (There's no reason to think that the supplements would be effective against any other form of arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, he says.)
Interest in glucosamine and chondroitin is so great that the National Institutes of Health recently conducted a large-scale study of the supplements for treating osteoarthritis of the knee. More than 1,500 osteoarthritis sufferers at 16 rheumatology centers across the United States participated in the study over a 24-week period. Scientists gave research subjects five different treatment options including glucosamine only, chondroitin only, and a combination of both. Although there were no significant differences between treatments overall, researchers found that for those with moderate to severe pain, glucosamine combined with chondroitin reduced patient suffering by at least 20 percent.
Serious medicine
Glucosamine and chondroitin are sold in grocery stores everywhere, but picking up a bottle isn't the same as grabbing a bag of potato chips. Klippel urges patients to treat the supplements like serious medicine. That means reading the instructions and following the directions to the letter.
Above all, patients should talk to their doctors before trying glucosamine, chondroitin, or any other alternative remedies, Klippel says. For one thing, doctors can offer valuable advice. More importantly, they need to know about anything and everything that might affect a patient's condition. If a patient suddenly gets better after trying a new treatment, the doctor should know where the credit belongs. Likewise, if something goes wrong, physicians should know about any potential causes.
Many people assume that "natural" products like glucosamine and chondroitin must be safe, but that assumption could backfire. According to the Arthritis Foundation, glucosamine and chondroitin carry risks. For example, chondroitin may interfere with blood-thinning medications, and glucosamine could potentially raise blood sugar in people with diabetes. The Arthritis Foundation says that children, pregnant women, or women who might become pregnant shouldn't take the supplements because there are no long-term studies of the effects on those populations.
Patients shopping for glucosamine or chondroitin need to be aware of another potential pitfall. Since nutritional supplements are not as stringently monitored as drugs, the pills in the bottle may not have any of the ingredients listed on the label. For this reason, the Arthritis Foundation recommends buying supplements only from large, reputable companies. Be aware, however, that the federal government doesn't regulate any supplements for safety and effectiveness before they are put on the market.
Alternative therapies should never take the place of standard medical care, Klippel says. People with joint pain need to know exactly what kind of arthritis they have and what their future holds. Working together with their doctors, they may find alternative treatments that really work.
-- Chris Woolston, M.S., is a health and medical writer with a master's degree in biology. He is a contributing editor at Consumer Health Interactive, and was the staff writer at Hippocrates, a magazine for physicians. He has also covered science issues for Time Inc. Health, WebMD, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
References
Interview with John H. Klippel, M.D., medical director of the Arthritis Foundation.
Interview with Charlie Jannings, M.D., specialist in geriatrics and sports medicine.
Ramos-Remus C and P Davis. Epidemiology of complementary and alternative practices in rheumatology. Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. November 1999. 25(4): 789-804.
Kramer N. Why I would not recommend complementary or alternative therapies: A physician's perspective. Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. November 1999. 25(4): 833-843.
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Questions and answers: NIH glucosamine/chondroitin arthritis intervention trail. May 2002.
Arthritis Foundation. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate. 2002.
Arithritis Foundation. About Us. http://www.arthritis.org/resources/aboutus/Klippel.asp
Food and Drug Administration. Dietary Supplements: Overview. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/supplmnt.html
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Questions and Answers: NIH Glucosamine/Chrondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT). February 2006. http://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/gait/qa.htm
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Reviewed by Michael Potter, M.D., an attending physician and associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco. He is board-certified in family practice.
Our reviewers are members of Consumer Health Interactive's medical advisory board.
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First published September 26, 2002
Last updated June 10, 2008
Copyright © 2002 Consumer Health Interactive
© 1999-2009 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc.
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