Glucosamine no better than placebo for lower back pain
A controlled trial in Norway found that the popular dietary supplement, glucosamine, was no better than a placebo at reducing pain-related disability in people with lower back pain with degenerative lumbar osteoarthritis (OA).
Despite being one of the most common conditions seen in general practice, treatment for non-specific chronic low back pain is often expensive and ineffective, commented Dr Andrew Avins, in an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) accompanying the report.
As a dietary oral supplement, mostly from animal or fish origin, glucosamine is widely used by patients with OA, possibly because they believe it will reverse or stop cartilage degeneration.
The researchers found no difference between the two groups in quality of life, disability and lower back pain (LBP).
“No statistically significant difference in change between groups was found when assessed after the 6-month intervention period and at one year,” they wrote.
The researchers concluded, “Among patients with chronic LBP and degenerative lumbar OA, 6-month treatment with oral glucosamine compared with placebo did not result in reduced pain-related disability after the 6-month intervention and after one year follow-up.”
Mild side effects were reported by similar numbers in both groups.
