Omega 3 plus glucosamine

Omega-3 plus glucosamine ‘superior’ for joint health: Study
By Stephen Daniells, 30-Nov-2009
Related topics: Omega-3, Research, Fibers and carbohydrates, Nutritional lipids and oils, Bone & joint health

Combining omega-3 fatty acids with glucosamine achieves better improvements in joint health than glucosamine alone, says a new study from Germany.

The study, published in the journal Advances in Therapy, is said to be the first clinical trial to employ the combination of glucosamine omega-3 fatty acids in people suffering from osteoarthritis. UK-based Seven Seas funded the study.

Approximately seven million people in the UK alone are reported to have long-term health problems associated with arthritis. Around 206 million working days were lost in the UK in 1999-2000, equal to £18 billion (€26 billion) of lost productivity.

Talking to NutraIngredients, lead author and president of the CRO which performed the trial, Analyze & Realize, Dr Joerg Gruenwald said: “In a randomized controlled clinical trial with 177 patients with osteoarthritis, we could prove that the combination of glucosamine sulfate and omega -3-fatty acid is superior to glucosamine alone.

“Using the classical WOMAC pain score we could show 27 per cent more responders (80 per cent reduction of WOMAC pain score) in the combination group compared to glucosamine alone, this difference was statistically significant,” he added.

The joint health market is dominated by glucosamine, which is extracted from the shell of crabs, lobster and shrimps. Cargill also markets a non-animal, non-shellfish derived product. The ingredient is often used in combination with chondroitin sulphate, extracted from animal cartilage, such as sharks.

According to the Nutrition Business Journal, US sales for these combined supplements were $810 million (€563 million) in 2005.

Study details

Dr Gruenwald and his co-workers recruited 177 people with moderate-to-severe hip or knee osteoarthritis and randomly assigned them to receive either a glucosamine sulfate supplement (1500 milligrams per day) or glucosamine plus omega-3 fatty acids (providing 444 mg of fish oil, of which 200 mg were omega-3-fatty acids).

It would be interesting to know which O3FA is the most effective in this application with glucosamine, i.e. EPA, DHA, or something else.

Also one thing about glucosamine is that shellfish allergies are fairly common, so those individuals need to avoid G/CS supplements unless they use those from non-shellfish derived sources.

- Dan

huh?

jk