Cartilage Rebuilder

Q:  After reading your article on knee pain on September 9, I thought this article on glucosamine sulfate might interest you. Several doctors I have spoken to had no idea of this cartilage rebuilder. I get mine at local health food stores.

A:  Add me (and Dr. Raasch) to the list of doctors who had never heard of glucosamine till now. The article from the July-August issue of an Arthritis newsletter is titled "A Simple New Remedy for Osteoarthritis." It quotes Alan L. Russell, a Canadian MD, who has treated more than 300 patients with glucosamine as stating that they have less pain, stiffness and swelling with few to no side effects. A few patients had slight nausea.

I did a computerized search and found a few studies done in Europe in which it was used and seemed to have some positive effects on arthritis. No studies in this country have been done yet.

Beth Derfus, MD, formerly an Assistant Professor of Medicine and an arthritis specialist at the Medical College of Wisconsin, had heard of glucosamine but is reluctant to recommend it to patients because of lack of FDA regulation and quality control. We've covered this before, but I'll remind readers again that drugs that are sold at health food stores can be manufactured with impurities and at less than precise dosages. The glucosamine capsules cost about $27 for 120 500-mg capsules, which also makes me a little wary (seems a little too cheap).

Thanks for the article. I'm anxious to find out if glucosamine will indeed become an accepted, effective treatment in the United States soon.

"Dear Doctor" is a compilation of patient questions answered by doctors from the Medical College of Wisconsin.