Glucosamine: May Not Be an Effective Treatment for Chronic Low Back Pain

The Washington Post ran an article yesterday, commenting on a recent article in the Journal of American Medicine (JAMA) examined the effects of glucosamine for the treatment of chronic low back pain. Glucosamine has been widely thought in the past to help calm symptoms of degenerative osteoarthritis. This article was a double-blinded, randomized , placebo-controlled trial in which subjects were administered glucosamine or placebo for 6-months and then rated rated their pain related disability.  The results: oral glucosamine had no beneficial effects in reducing pain related disability.
 
A similar study in 2007, published in the Annals of Inernal Medicine discovered that a similar suppliment, chondroitin, does not appear to help individuals with hip/knee pain caused by osteoarthritis.
 
The Take Home Message: To diminish an individuals complaints of low back pain, the most effective approach continues to appear to be a physical therapy regime consisting of a combination of manual techniques, neuromuscular reeducation of the transversus abdominus/multifidi and gluteus medius/maximus to reset muscle spindles and postural reeducation.
 
Citations:
Wilkens P,  Scheel I, Grundnes O, Hellum S,Storheim K. Effect of Glucosamine on Pain-Related Disability in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain and Degenerative Lumbar Osteoarthritis.
JAMA. 2010;304(1):45-52. 
 
Reichenbach S, Sterchi R, Scherer M, Trelle S, Burgi E, Burgi U, Dieppe P, Juni P. Metaanalysis : Chondroitin for Osteoarthritis of the Hip or Knee. Ann Intern Med. 2007; 146 (8):580-590.