PRACTICAL PAIN MANAGEMENT TALKS ARTHRITIS DRUGS
CONCLUDES THEY ARE INEFFECTIVE
“A growing uncertainty continues to be made among pharmacological interventions for this chronic joint condition.”A header from the article being discussed
A few days ago the pain physician’s journal, Practical Pain Management, published an article with a highly telling title; Medication Largely Ineffective In Long-Term Osteoarthritis Pain Management. That’s right folks; if you have degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis / OA), PPP’s review of a meta-analysis of 47 studies involving over 22,000 patients concluded that “there was uncertainty around the estimates of effect size for change in pain with placebo.” In other words, drugs (MOSTLY FROM “THE BIG FIVE” CATEGORY, but also including things like BISPHOSPHONATES), are not a good solution for arthritic pain over the long term. Who could possibly be surprised?
Fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining and this one was sterling. Guess which (ahem) “medication” out-performed all comers? GLUCOSAMINE SULFATE — a cartilage-building nutritional supplement that has been around for decades under an assortment of different names. Also on the list were “ANTIOXIDANTS” and HYALURONIC ACID, neither of which are drugs either (they were referred to in this article as “interventions” and as MONOTHERAPIES, were not shown to be effective). “Pain improvement remained significant only for glucosamine sulfate.” Here’s the double whammy for those wanting to remain drug-free as they get older; glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate were the only “medications” that actually increased joint (cartilage) space.
So; although I’ve written numerous DIY articles about helping people help themselves with arthritis pain (HERE and HERE are two of them), my larger anti-inflammation protocol is often almost magically helpful simply because arthritis is based on inflammation (itis is the Latin word for INFLAMMATION). That protocol can be found HERE. While far from being considered comprehensive for every person, it will provide the average arthritis sufferer a starting point — something to look at and start to ponder as they start formulating THEIR OWN PERSONAL EXIT STRATEGY FROM PAIN. Oh; and if you enjoyed today’s post, be sure to like, share or follow on FACEBOOK since it provides a nice way to reach those you love and value most.
