The problem is hopeful and energetic promotion of this or that diet supplement.
I have dogs and horses getting glucosamine for aged arthritis.
I hope for something too.
That’s the problem, as splained by the ACSH.
The Problem is that there is always an opportunity for promoters.
For example people make a lot of money on animal supplements because they are less controlled.
not that I am for more gov intervention, but I say most of these animal supplements are aimed at the female caretakers of the animals, who would jump on anything to make their animals young and active and happy (according to their measures) again.
There is a lot of irrationality. Just put your horse up at one of these fancy places to get a taste of it. They are suckers for everything that comes down the pike. Hope springs eternal in the breast of every animal lover.
http://acsh.org/2014/03/todays-news-item-another-supplement-bites-dust/
Stan,
Exactly. If it is not a randomized study but just observational the researcher is simply saying that he can observe better than you. That may or may not be the case. The big drawback for the researcher is that he is not observing you!
A simple rule. If the claim comes from an observational study, give it little or no credence. If you don’t see the words “randomized trial” the claim comes from an observational study.
Glucosamine clearly works for some people. It is possible that it is a placebo effect. So what?
“Our Dr. Josh Bloom has written repeatedly about the farcical law that enabled makers of unapproved drugs (which is what supplements are) to bypass the rigorous safety and efficacy data that are required by the FDA for traditional prescription drugs.”
Dr. Bloom would ban glucosamine, even though it helps some people. “First, do no harm,” Dr. Bloom.
Maybe Dr. Bloom is employed by the “rigorous safety and efficacy” industry. It employs many people. Who certainly believe that what they do is all good.
I take glucosamine. Maybe it helps me; maybe it doesn’t. But it is none of ACSH’s or Dr. Bloom’s business.
I’m taking glucosamine+chondroitin, and I’m convinced it helps.
I used to go on a Fall church retreat to the NC mountains, and one of the annual activities was to hike up and down that mountain. Well, the first time I tried it, I made it about halfway up before my knees gave out, and I had to slowly limp back down. The next year I took a couple of naproxen first, and I did a little bit better, but my knees still gave out, and I limped painfully off that mountain.
But shortly after that I started taking glucosamine+chondroitin. By the next year’s retreat, I’d taken it consistently for nearly a year. That year I again took a couple of naproxen before the hike, but that year I hiked to the top and back down, and my knees felt fine.
I was so happy that for the rest of the retreat I ran everywhere, just because I could. 🙂
I can still “use up” my knees, if I try to run too far, or lug heavy boxes up and down stairs too many times. I don’t have my 20 yo knees back. But I am convinced that the glucosamine+chondroitin helps substantially.
I have taken Glucosamine now for more than a decade and I remain a believer. I am in my 60’s and an avid tennis player. Before I started taking Glucosamine my knees were very painful. I could not kneel on them. Today I do not have pain in my knees and I can kneel on my knees without them hurting. Please do not take this “useless drug” away from me. PLEASE!
I have seen a number of anecdotal stories about glucosamine really helping dogs get their mobility back. I have not heard ANY WRT to humans,except a few anecdotal stories about combining glucosamine with some other stuff
We all know that anecdotyl stories don’t mean diddlysquat, and yet… our own dog, as he grew older and had more problems, felt a lot better on the days he got glucosamine.
We saw this in particular when we had to be out of town during the days for two weeks, asking a neighbor to give him his noonish dose.
We’d get back in the late evening, and there was a pretty decent correlation between his feeling a lot worse than normal and the times the neighbor couldn’t treat him.
So.. I’d like to see a bit more, make that a lot more, research.