Dietary Supplements For Treatment of Arthritis From the Cleveland Clinic

WebMD Medical Reference provided in collaboration with The Cleveland Clinic

Many people with arthritis -- especially osteoarthritis -- use supplements to ease the pain of arthritis. Glucosamine and chondroitin are the most well known and best tested. Methyl sulfonylmethane, or MSM, is another supplement used to ease the pain of arthritis, but it has not been through as much rigorous scientific testing.

What Are Glucosamine and Chondroitin?

Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are components of normal cartilage. In the body, they are the building blocks for cartilage and appear to stimulate the body to make more cartilage.
There are conflicting studies on glucosamine and chondroitin, some demonstrating a beneficial effect on osteoarthritis pain. Others, including the NIH-sponsored multicenter

Glucosamine/Chrondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), did not show benefit for the primary outcome measure of osteoarthritis pain measured by WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMacster Universities). However, a smaller subgroup of study participants with moderate to severe pain did show significant relief. Due to the small size of this subgroup, these findings should be confirmed in larger studies.

The supplements, which are available in pharmacies and health food stores without a prescription, are well tolerated and appear to be safe. However, there are no long-term studies to confirm their long-term safety and effectiveness. Many physicians may still recommend a trial of glucosamine at this point, and if there is not apparent improvement by 3 months, it would reasonable to stop the treatment.

It is important to check with your doctor before starting any new treatments. Your doctor can review the other medications you are taking and help you decide whether or not these arthritis supplements are right for you. In addition, always follow the instructions on the medication label. Do not take more of the supplements than is recommended. Continue Reading ...

All About Osteoarthritis and Women

By Jeanie Lerche Davis

WebMD Feature

Reviewed By Charlotte Mathis, MD

If you've just been diagnosed with osteoarthritisosteoarthritis (OA), you're not alone. Many women past age 50 discover OA is the reason for their creaking knees, aching backs, and sore fingers. Suddenly life is all about osteoarthritis -- but luckily, arthritisarthritis doesn't have to take control.

Arthritis is "the most common form of disability. It's also a natural part of aging," says Primal Kaur, MD, director of the Osteoporosis Clinic at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

In the U.S., one in five adults has osteoarthritis -- 24 million women and 17 million men, according to the Arthritis Foundation. Continue Reading ...

Omega-3s Revealed

Researchers have long known omega-3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation. Now they know how.

by Linda RichardsPosted 2/12/07

Understanding how your body benefits from eating omega-3 fatty acids is an important part of understanding why you should eat them. But, until recently, no one really knew what made omega-3s so beneficial. Researchers, however, have uncovered the secret of omega-3 fatty acids. A study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston revealed that omega-3s actually convert into compounds that are 10,000 times more potent than the original fatty acids themselves. So what does this mean to us? The new compounds include resolvins, which help bring the inflammatory response to an end, says the study’s lead researcher, Charles Serhan, PhD, director, Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury at Harvard Medical School, Boston. Continue reading ...

New Knees Designed for Women

Hundreds of thousands of knee replacement surgeries are done every year. About two-thirds of the patients are women and, until now, there was a gender gap in the OR.

Annie Beylerian is making medical history. She’s one of the first to receive a revolutionary new knee implant specifically designed for women. “I couldn't walk," she says.

Dr. Michael Kelly, who helped design the new “gender solutions” knee, says it's shaped more like a woman's natural knee.

He says, "Women have a little different makeup in their knee’s anatomy than men do. If we were to look at that, they’re a little bit taller and they are a little bit narrower.”

A traditional implant is often too wide for a woman. The result can be pain and decreased function. The new gender-specific implant is designed for a better fit.

Dr. Kelly says, "You can see a very nice contour here. There’s a little bit different angle in the way the kneecap slides in and a little bit smaller amount of metal here, all to keep the patella-femoral mechanics. Or in plain terms, how your kneecap functions when you go up and down the stairs, or arise from a seat or drive a car.”

Replacement knees have been available in different sizes for years. This time it's the shape that counts.

Dr. Kelly says, "We went to right and lefts, which became even better than the symmetric knees which was one size kind of fit all and you figure out surgically how to correct it. But now this is just one step further.”

Dr. Kelly says that, for the moment, the gender solutions knee comes in one size. By the end of summer, it should be available in several sizes. continue reading ...