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Menopause
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my personal edition > menopause > news
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DGReview
Use of Glucosamine Sulphate for Osteoarthritis Appears to Have Disease-Modifying Effect in Postmenopausal Women
A DGReview of :"Glucosamine sulfate reduces osteoarthritis progression in postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis: evidence from two 3-year studies"
Menopause
03/25/2004
By Emma Hitt, PhD
Two studies indicate that glucosamine sulphate may reduce symptoms and stabilise radiographic joint space width compared to placebo.
Olivier Bruyere, MSc, World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Public Health Aspect of Osteoarticular Disorders, Liege, Belgium, and colleagues analysed data from a preplanned combination of two 3-year, randomised, placebo-controlled, prospective, independent studies evaluating the effect of glucosamine sulfate on symptoms and structure modification in OA and conducted a post-hoc analysis of the results obtained in postmenopausal women with knee OA.
Using standing anteroposterior knee radiographs, the researchers assessed minimal joint space width at baseline and after 3 years. Of 414 women randomised in the two studies, 319 were postmenopausal. Symptoms were scored by the algo-functional Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) index at baseline and after 3 years. All primary statistical analyses were performed in intention-to-treat, comparing joint space width and WOMAC changes between groups by analysis of variance.
After 3 years, postmenopausal participants in the glucosamine sulphate group showed no joint space narrowing (joint space change of +0.003 mm), whereas participants in the placebo group experienced a narrowing of -0.33 mm (P < .0001 between the two groups).
In addition, the glucosamine sulphate group showed an improvement in WOMAC index scores of -14.1% and a trend for worsening in the placebo group (P = .003 between the two groups).
"Results of the present study suggest that long-term oral administration of glucosamine sulphate for 3 years can delay the natural symptomatic and structural course of knee osteoarthritis in postmenopausal women," Dr. Bruyere and colleagues conclude.
"Glucosamine sulphate, therefore, is the first agent that meets the current requirements to be classified as a symptom- and structure-modifying drug in women with knee OA," they write.
Menopause 2004;11:2:138-143.
"Glucosamine sulfate reduces osteoarthritis progression in postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis: evidence from two 3-year studies"
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