Joint Efforts Glucosamine and Chondroitin

In 2002, British scientists developed a recombinant protein that was able to break down linamarin (Fig. 3.2) to hydrogen cyanide in cancer cells selectively (antibody-guided enzyme nitrile therapy, AGENT). However, the protein has major disadvantages and is unlikely to be useful as a medicine. 

The case of vitamin B, has a broader context as well. Today, the market of developed countries is flooded with dietary supplements and alleged vitamin products, which do not need to be approved by medical authorities. Many of these products share one characteristic using them is known to result in no health benefits at all, or as in the case of vitamin B,/ , they are outright harmful. When will society learn to tmst its own education system and screen out profiteering charlatans  

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease (see Fig. 3.4) involving the degradation of articular cartilage and subchondral bone. This disease seriously affects the quality of the life of patients, and often leads to muscle atrophy and pain. Treating it may even require surgery. The disease typically occurs over the age of 60, but some athletes develop similar symptoms much earher in life. In the US only, about 27 million people suffer from some form of osteoarthritis, which may be an ultimate cause for more than 10% of the visits at family doctors. 

This conclusion was further strengthened by a European study in 2008, where 318 osteoarthritis patients were treated with acetaminophen (the active ingredient of Tylenol), glucosamine sulfate and placebos. Tylenol and placebos resulted in no medical improvement, but glucosamine sulfate treatment caused 20% decrease in pain. 

In contrast, a large scale American study (Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial, GAIT) between 2006 and 2010 led to a fimdamentally different conclusion. In this, 1500 patients were treated with glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin and placebo in this period, each with a dose of 500 mg of glucosamine hydrochloride and 400 mg of chondroitin three times a day. The treatment was no 

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