The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Benefits of chondroitin in knee osteoarthritis

    Following the negative report from the Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), researchers from the University of Utah reanalyzed the data on chondroitin and discovered there’s benefit in certain patients.

    Here’s what they found

    • Patients taking chondroitin sulfate had a statistically significant improvement in knee joint swelling.
    • A beneficial effect of chondroitin sulfate on joint swelling occurred more often in patients with milder pain and lower Kellgren-Lawrence Grade (less severe disease).

    The bottom line?
    The earlier report from GAIT found no statistically significant difference in average joint space width loss (a surrogate marker for joint health) with any treatment compared to placebo.

    Based on the reanalysis however, it appears that in people with milder pain and less severe osteoarthritis of the knee, taking chondroitin is likely to result in less knee pain.

    10/8/08 18:20 JR

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