Osteoarthritis of the Knee Helped by Supplement

Glucosamine sulfate, the active ingredient in a number of over-the counter
nutritional supplements taken by osteoarthritis suffers, has been found to
improve arthritis of the knee in a controlled trial. The three-year study
involving 212 Belgian patients with osteoarthritis of the knee was described
at
the annual meeting of the American Colloge of Rheumatology.

X-rays of the patients' knees was taken at one year and at three years and
interpreted by London physicians with not knowlege of which patiens received
the 1,500- milligram dose of glucosamine once a day. The researchers found
that
106 patients given placebo all developed a narrowing of the joint, a sign of
osteoarthritis, while there were no detectable narrowing in the glucosamine
group.
(Reuters, Nov. 15, '99)