Orthopaedic Surgery/Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common disabling condition of humans in the western world. Recently with questions about the cardiac safety of Vioxx prompting the removal of that drug from the market, we search for alternatives to Cox II selective NSAIDS. Recognizing that anything you put in your mouth can be fatal, we still hesitate to use a medication for a non-life threatening condition when there may be life threatening consequences to the treatment, however rare. The question of efficacy for other alternatives to NSAIDS is the subject of a recently completed large scale study. There is a suggestion of efficacy for the combination of Chondroitin Sulfate, derived from animal cartilage in combination with Glucosamine derived from shellfish, the combination marketed as an alternative remedy and classified as a food additive, therefore not subject to the scrutiny of the FDA.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=16495392

http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/alttherapies/Glucosamine.asp

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=15312300