From this recent New York Times article Treatments: Study Sees Little Benefit in Chondroitin for Arthritis comes this information:
“People looking for relief from arthritis pain often turn to the dietary supplement chondroitin, so much so that by some estimates, the market for the supplement is $1 billion a year in the United States.”
And this:
"Writing in The Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers said a review of 20 earlier studies had found that the benefit of the supplement was “minimal or nonexistent.”
While some may be able to point to a study that shows a marginal benefit to chondroitin the Meta-analysis showing no benefits appears to trump those studies.
The meta-analysis does not investigate the possible benefits of chondroitin used in conjunction with glucosamine. Patients have reported positive benefits using those two together.
The meta-analysis is not necessarily the be-all-and-end-all final say on the matter. For those who have reported positive results for using chondroitin and glucosamine together those positive results might be reason enough to continue.
For those who have no perceivable results from using condroitin and glucosamine there are other interventions. Another intervention for lessening the debilitating effects of arthritis that one might consider is strength training – particularly high intensity training. High intensity strength trainings involve less repetitions. With less repititions there is less likelihood of repetitive use injuries that cause inflammation.
At Kelly Personal Training in Austin and at Ultimate Fitness in New Orleans are high intensity personal training sessions that are designed to produce the biggest increase in strength in the least amount of time exercising. A stronger body gives one a measure of protection against the ravages of arthritis.
