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He takes glucosamine for a stubborn football injury and recommends it for 1,000 of his patients..

Research was presented that confirmed the effectiveness of dietary supplements glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate in relieving knee and joint pains associated with osteoarthritis.

• It's official: Two dietary supplements that millions of senior citizens and baby boomers already swear by for creaky knees finally have some real science behind them.
• Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, taken together, may help reduce moderate to severe knee pain caused by osteoarthritis, the leading cause of disability in the United States, according to research to be presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting in San Diego.
• Manufacturers, who sold $734 million worth of glucosamine/chondroitin last year in this country, have eagerly awaited the results of the first large-scale, rigorously designed clinical trial of the supplements to be funded by the federal government rather than private industry.
• Many consumers and mainstream physicians likely will agree, at least for glucosamine/chondroitin, hyped as The Arthritis Cure in Jason Theodosakis' 1997 bestseller.
• Havertown orthopedic surgeon Nicholas A. DiNubile, a knee specialist, insists there is no cure for arthritis .
• But he takes glucosamine/chondroitin for a stubborn teenage football injury and recommends it for 1,000 of his patients.
• The typical daily dose is 1,500 milligrams of glucosamine and 1,200 milligrams of chondroitin sulfate.
• Schumacher, too, takes glucosamine/chondroitin - for knees battered by decades of basketball.
• The study showed that celecoxib reduced knee pain to a lesser extent, but Schumacher recommends the supplements over Celebrex, which carries warnings about possible cardiovascular and gastrointestinal problems.
• One somewhat surprising study result was that 60 percent of patients given a placebo reported pain relief, twice the typical placebo rate in most clinical trials.
• The disease is caused by the progressive breakdown of cartilage, the body's shock absorber, a slippery connective tissue that cushions the ends of bones within the joints.
• In an interview, Phillips said he had not noticed any difference in his knee pain during that time but that, given the study's results, he might start taking glucosamine/chondroitin.

Originally published December 3 2005