Glucosamine - the supplement for crap knees?

Glucosamine - the supplement for crap knees? 

Glucosamine might be the supplement you've been looking for if you've got dodgy knees or achey joints.

It's been used for arthritis relief for decades and has some other potentially welcome benefits like longevity and exercise performance. It minimises joint swelling and pain and/or slows joint degeneration.

“In this case it’s functioning as a building block,”
said podiatrist and NYC and Boston Marathon medical advisor, Karen Langone

Research shows it also functions as an anti-inflammatory.This seems to be the version,glucosamine sulphate.

Research on glucosamine and osteoarthritis (OA) is inconclusive. Some studies show it helps reduce joint pain; others show no significant improvements for joint health. One older study published in Menopause reported that three years of glucosamine sulfate supplementation reduced the progression of OA in postmenopausal women with knee OA. After three years, the women taking glucosamine had no detrimental changes in their joint and had significantly improved their WOMAC scores(which measure pain, stiffness, and physical function), compared to worsening scores and more detrimental changes in the women who took placebo pills for the study period.

A 2020 epidemiological study of 16,686 adults published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine reported that taking glucosamine/chondroitinfor a year or longer was associated with a 39% reduction in early death from any cause and a 65% reduction in cardiovascular-related deaths. The reduction in early mortality is comparable to the longevity benefits you get from performing regular exercise.

So, if you have dodgy knees it might be worth a try. You never know till you give it a go.

Article taken from the Feisty Menopause blog which has further reading and a podcast on feet