Read the Fine Print

The most recent estimate of US consumer sales for glucosamine and chondroitin was $734 million,¹ and many chiropractors offer these supplements to improve patients’ joint health. So I was very interested to see the following headline on Yahoo! News: “Study: Supplements Fail to Ease Arthritis.”²

When I read the article, I got quite a different picture. The first paragraph of the Yahoo! article, which actually came from the Associated Press, stated that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are of little help to most people with mild arthritis. So the headline was misleading.

In the days following the release of the study, articles popped up in various major newspapers reporting on the item. One headline read, “Study: Nutritional Supplements Do Little to Ease Arthritis.”

Scrolling to the bottom of the article, I saw that the study, which was published in the February 23, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine³, also included a small sample of people with moderate to severe arthritis. And—what a surprise—79% of them reported pain relief from taking a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin. Among study participants who were given a placebo, only 54% of those with moderate to severe pain got relief.

But the portion of the article discussing the mild arthritis patients in the study also raises questions. During the study, 1,583 patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis received one of five treatments: either glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate, a combination of both, an osteoarthritis drug, or a placebo. Sixty percent of patients who took the placebo had reduced pain, compared with 64% who took glucosamine, 65% who took chondroitin, and 67% who took the combo pills. The Associated Press/Yahoo! article stated that 70% of participants reported improvement from the osteoarthritis drug, “affirming the study's validity."

Reporting that 67% constitutes “failure” for natural products but 70% affirms “the study's validity”and the effectiveness of pain medication shows extreme bias for medicine. The news story slightly redeemed itself by stating that the osteoarthritis drug is being studied to see if it is safe for people at risk of heart problems. The news story also quoted a woman who said glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate helped her knee pain while painkillers failed, and that she planned to continue using them.

Here’s more proof that you should always look for the fine print: The very end of the study mentions that several of the study’s authors have ties to the pharmaceutical industry. For example, several of the authors report having received lecture fees, grant support, or consulting fees from a pharmaceutical company.

So the bias in favor of conventional medicine is evident not only in the media, but in the study itself. We should support all efforts from leaders in the chiropractic industry to continue getting the word out about healthier alternatives to drugs, so that consumers will think to read beyond the headlines. CP

Daryl Lubinsky
dlubinsky@ascendmedia.com

References
1. Annual nutrition industry overview. Nutrition Business J, 2005;10:6-7.
2. Chang A. Study: Supplements Fail to Ease Arthritis. Available at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060223/ap_on_he_me/diet_arthritis_7.   Accessed February 28, 2006.
3. Clegg DO, Reda DJ, Harris CL, et al. Glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and the two in combination for painful knee osteoarthritis. New Engl J Med. 2006;354(8):795–808.