How Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate Treat Arthritis

Author : Jack Russel 

For patients of arthritis, their most important concern is to relieve themselves of the pain brought about by their disease. After all, the joint pain caused by arthritis can be excruciating, to the point that it debilitates the patient and makes him or her incapable of moving.

In previous years, the main form of treatment that arthritis patients get come in the form of NSAIDs - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. However, research has shown that NSAIDs act merely to mask the pain. They do not really work to heal the joints afflicted by the disease. But worse than that, long-term use of NSAIDs is said to cause liver and intestinal damage.

Thus, research continued to find alternative cures to arthritis. In recent decades, medical researchers have indeed discovered such alternatives to NSAIDs. The ones they found are chemical compounds that occur naturally in the body. Moreover, they go beyond mere pain relief and actually help in rebuilding the damage that arthritis causes to joints it afflicts. These alternatives are none other than glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate.

How do glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate work in treating arthritis? To answer this question, we need to understand what the cartilage in the body is made of. Cartilage is made up of three elements: 1) water, which lubricates it; 2) proteoglycans, which hold the water in; 3) collagen, which keeps the proteoglycans intact. Proteoglycans also act to hold collagen together. When cartilage is damaged in arthritis, osteoarthritis in particular, the proteoglycans are weakened and break apart, letting loose the collagen and the lubricating water.

How does glucosamine come to the rescue? Glucosamine is the main component of the proteoglycans. When this chemical compound is taken in by an arthritis patient, it stimulates the reproduction of cells building up the proteoglycans; therefore, glucosamine helps in rebuilding the proteoglycans and the collagen. The renewed presence of proteoglycans and collagen on cartilage aids a lot in healing the joints. As for the chondroitin sulfate, it acts as a magnet to draw in the water that the proteoglycans feed on.

Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are both naturally occurring in the body. However, a persons ability to produce these two compounds decreases with age. Recent USA studies as reported by The New England Journal of Medicine, show that a combination of these 2 supplements relieve those suffering moderate to severe pain from arthritis, more effectively than Celebrex. A safe and effective alternative to dangerous drugs with many side effects is clearly using glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate as supplements.

The best of these supplements exist in liquid form. It is advised to take these supplements in liquid form because liquids are more readily absorbed by the body; unlike in pills, there is no chance for it to go to waste and they do not have binders or stabilizers. Also, the best glucosamine supplements are in HCL and sulfate form, never in NaCL or KCL form. The latter ones are just table salt.