When the people at SelectHealthy asked me to write a blog for them, part of the brief was to keep an eye out for suitable articles that might throw more light on some of their products, little did I think that the perfect article would come along after a few weeks that addressed their most popular range of products and the ailments associated with them. Great! I got lucky.
I am 64 myself, and have been taking a variety of supplements since I was about 40. I started using Glucosamine because my legs ached in bed at night, interrupting my sleep, and a daily 1500 mg pill solved the problem over time, so I have been taking them ever since together with Omega 3 and Probiotics.
I recently switched to a Glucosamine and Chondroitin formulation on the advice of my Doctor, which has improved my flexibility, especially on the Golf course: 'Bandit', was the term used recently!
Anyway, here is the article recently published in the Dail Mail.
Make your own judgement:
Do pills made from lobsters really help creaky joints?
By Jill Foster
Last updated at 10:06 PM on 9th April 2011
Capsules filled with the powdered shells of crabs, lobsters and prawns: a miraculous aid for joints, and perhaps even an effective treatment for the painful symptoms of arthritis.
Relatively cheap, all natural, and with no side effects. Sounds too good to be true - and also rather improbable?
Not to the millions of Britons who bought glucosamine supplements last year, spending £2 billion in the hope that the fishy contents would protect their knees, hips, wrists and knuckles from deterioration. The £30 million we spend annually on Vitamin C pales by comparison.
Millions of Britons bought glucosamine supplements last year, spending £2 billion in the hope that the fishy contents would protect their knees, hips, wrists and knuckles from deteriorationAround 1.2million sufferers of osteoarthritis - characterised by loss of cartilage within the joints - visit their GP each year about the problem. And, according to Arthritis Research UK, as many as one in ten may suffer from joint degeneration.
There is no cure and few effective treatments besides painkillers and, eventually, surgery. So it's no surprise that sales of glucosamine have increased by more than 60 per cent since 2003.
While official medical guidance does not recognise it as an effective arthritis treatment, Arthritis Research UK does endorse it. So what is this super-supplement and does it deserve such acclaim?
WHAT IS GLUCOSAMINE?
Glucosamine is needed to produce a molecule called hyaluronic acid, which is found naturally in cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and synovial fluid around the joints and helps with elasticity,' says Dr Pieris Nicola, a nutritional therapist and pharmacology expert.
'You can't obtain glucosamine directly from your diet. Instead, our body produces it from the glucose and glutamine building blocks in all foods.
'As production of glucosamine slows with age, some people decide to take it as a supplement. Glucosamine supplements are prepared using chitin, present in the shells of crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimps. Vegetarian glucosamine is produced by a process of corn fermentation.'
NOT ALL GLUCOSAMINES ARE ALIKE
There are dozens of brands of glucosamine supplements. The most popular are branded as glucosamine sulphate and glucosamine hydrochloride
'Glucosamine sulphate is the form most commonly used by the nutritional supplement industry. It contains sodium or potassium salts, so may not be suitable for people on a salt-restricted diet,' says Dr Nicola.
'Glucosamine hydrochloride is a purer form as it contains more glucosamine than glucosamine sulphate. However, it is likely that most forms of the supplement are converted to glucosamine hydrochloride as soon as they mix with the hydrochloric acid in the stomach.'
SO DOES IT TREAT ARTHRITIS?
Arthritis is an umbrella term for a group of diseases that affect the joints, all of which result in pain and disabilityAt least 21 trials focusing mainly on glucosamine sulphate have taken place. Evidence is scarce about the effectiveness of glucosamine hydrochloride and vegetarian glucosamine.
Although some trials have reported positive health benefits, other larger trials have reported no effect.
The NHS has prescribed Alateris, a form of glucosamine, for mild osteoarthritis in the hips and knees, since October 2007.
But as of 2008, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which provides guidelines for medics, does not recommend glucosamine on the NHS due to a lack of evidence that it works. Controversially, the NHS still spends £25.6 million on glucosamine prescriptions each year.
Arthritis Research UK suggests that those who want to try it should take glucosamine mixed with chondroitin (shark cartilage) supplements for three months and if the pain eases, carry on.
'Most of the trials involve patients taking between 1,500mg and 2,000mg of glucosamine per day, which is what many of the over-the-counter supplements contain,' says Professor Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research UK.
'In our own review we found that glucosamine sulphate supplements scored three out of five for effectiveness while glucosamine hydrochloride scored one out of five.
'All the trials have found that there are very few side effects to taking glucosamine, so even if a patient is improving only thanks to the placebo effect, it's not doing them any harm.
'The majority of the trials have evaluated that taking glucosamine demonstrated significant clinical benefit when compared with.....
