Rx Chondroitin on par with Rx NSAID (study)

[machinemind]

My intention in this post is to examine compelling evidence behind Chondroitin Sulfate, and perhaps inspire some in pain or decreased function to take a second (or first) look at it. I have no association with any company or supplier with a financial interest in it's promotion.

I'd like to share this, and first state that I believe (anecdotal/opinion) an effective dose of Chondroitin from a trusted source (perhaps cGMP with COA), is absolutely effective in joint pain without the well known adverse effects of NSAIDS (bleeding risk, kidney disease, etc.). Of course, "'pharm' grade" raises red flags for me that this is going to be a segue to taking advantage of people financially. "You get what you pay for" has it's threshold.

A little while back Phase 3 trials of Chondroitin vs. Celecoxib (Celebrex- Rx COX inhibitor) vs. Placebo was published.

CONCEPT Trial (ChONdroitin vs. CElecoxib vs. Placebo Trial)
Pharmaceutical-grade Chondroitin sulfate is as effective as celecoxib and superior to placebo in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: the ChONdroitin versus CElecoxib versus Placebo Trial (CONCEPT) | Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases

CLIFFS:
Study is well designed, randomised, 6-month, 3-arm, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo. CS dose 800mg/day, Celecoxib 200mg/day.

CS is available as pharmaceutical-grade and nutraceutical-grade products, the latter exhibiting striking variations in preparation, composition, purity as well as clinical effects. These differences may explain why, whereas pharmaceutical-grade CS was shown to improve pain and function and/or delay structural progression of knee OA in several well-conducted studies, these results were not confirmed when lower grade formulations were used.

In conclusion, the CONCEPT study provided evidence that daily administration of 800 mg of [Rx] CS in patients with symptomatic knee OA lead to improvement in pain and function superior to placebo and similar to the NSAID celecoxib.

:spam: