Guest guest Posted June 10, 2004 Report Share Posted June 10, 2004 Thu, 10 Jun 2004 10:16:22 -0500 HSI - Jenny Thompson The Weatherman Cometh The Weatherman Cometh Health Sciences Institute e-Alert June 10, 2004 ************************************************************** Dear Reader, When I was growing up, there was an elderly man in my neighborhood who we called Mr. Mike. He would predict changes in the weather by the way one of his knees felt. He'd say, " It's going to rain. My knee's acting up. " We kids never really believed this - we assumed the connection between his knee and the weather was all in his mind. As I got older, I came to realize there was an actual connection. And today, while reading about knee osteoarthritis (OA), I discovered that in the intermediate stages of this disease, weather changes often trigger a dull pain. I feel like I owe Mr. Mike an apology, although I'm pretty sure at this point he's well beyond caring about apologies or his knee or the weather. What I'd really like to do is go back a few decades and loan him a copy of the April 2004 issue of the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage so he could read about a new study that shows very promising results of a natural treatment for knee osteoarthritis. But as effective as this treatment may be, it comes with an important warning for men. ----------------------------- Stopping damage in its tracks ----------------------------- Knee osteoarthritis affects nearly a quarter of all women over the age of 45 and about 14 percent of men in the same age group. So far, no mainstream cures for this disease have been developed, other than replacing damaged joints. But studies have shown that supplements containing glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate (both are essential parts of cartilage) may be able to slow and even reverse knee OA. To investigate the effectiveness of chondroitin sulfate (CS), researchers in Zurich, Switzerland, enrolled 120 subjects with knee OA. During two separate three-month periods within one year, half of the subjects took 800 mg of CS every day and half received a placebo. Using a self-report method called Lequesne's algo-functional index to measure pain and knee function, overall symptoms of OA were shown to be reduced by 36 percent in the CS group and 23 percent in the placebo group. Other factors - such as walking time and the need for painkillers - showed similar improvements. The most impressive result was found in x-rays that revealed significantly decreased joint space width in the placebo subjects, but no change in this same measurement in the CS group. This confirms earlier studies demonstrating that chondroitin may inhibit progression of knee OA. The study also showed that continuous use of CS isn't necessary to produce positive results. ----------------------------- A warning & an alternative ----------------------------- As I mentioned above, the use of chondroitin sulfate comes with an important warning for men. In the e-Alert " When Treatments Collide " (5/7/02), I told you about research that has shown that CS intake may promote the growth and spread of prostate cancer. According to Charles E. Myers, Jr., M.D., (a leader in prostate cancer research), CS relieves joint pain when it forms a complex with the protein versican found in joint cartilage. But cancers that spread widely and metastasize, such as prostate cancer cells, also express versican on their surface. When the chondroitin supplement is introduced, it's loaded onto the surface of the cancer cells, facilitating their growth and spread to distant sites. Fortunately, there is no evidence that glucosamine contributes to the spread of prostate cancer. So while prostate cancer patients (or those at high risk of the disease) should avoid CS, Dr. Myers encourages osteoarthritis patients to use glucosamine, which has been shown to be effective when used independently. Glucosamine can be found in most health food stores and through many Internet sources. Just be certain that the product doesn't contain chondroitin listed under other names, such as sea cucumber or chonsurid. ----------------------------- Avoiding the knife ----------------------------- I have one final note for anyone who may be suffering from knee osteoarthritis. In the e-Alert " Playing Knee Games " (7/18/02), I told you about a study that examined the effectiveness of arthroscopic knee surgery. Every year, more than half a million of these procedures are performed in which a small camera is inserted into the knee joint along with special surgical instruments. For many doctors, however, the value of this surgery has been suspect for quite awhile, and the 2002 study confirmed that successful results of this surgery may be completely due to a placebo effect. So if your doctor recommends arthroscopic surgery to address knee OA, at the very least you should read up on the details of this procedure, and then seek a second opinion. ************************************************************** To start receiving your own copy of the HSI e-Alert, visit: http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealert/freecopy.html Or forward this e-mail to a friend so they can sign-up to receive their own copy of the HSI e-Alert. ************************************************************** ... and another thing Call it hardball... Italian style. The Guardian (a UK newspaper) reported late last month that Italian police had concluded a long investigation with a request to put nearly 5,000 people on trial for unacceptable marketing practices. Can you guess who's in hot water? The Guardia di Finanza (Italy's tax police) accused the drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) of spending 228 million Euros (about $278 million U.S.) over a period of four years on what the authorities delicately described as " sweeteners " to coax doctors and pharmacists to prescribe certain drugs. And $70 million a year buys a lot of " sweets. " Police claim that computers, cameras, vacations and plenty of cash exchanged hands between drug sales people and doctors who were allegedly willing to accept the gifts in return for prescribing certain drugs. About 10,000 pages of evidence levels the most serious charges concerning a drug called Hycamtin that treats ovarian and lung cancers. Some doctors are accused of accepting cash amounts based on the number of prescriptions they wrote for the drug. In other words, they may have been working on commission. And here's the real kicker: About 270 GSK employees may be charged, but more than 4,400 doctors will face the music. And some of them stand to spend up to five years in jail. The system by which drug companies offer doctors extravagant perks to encourage prescription writing is unethical when the health of patients is in the balance. But as I've said before, this system wouldn't get past square one if doctors simply told drug sales people, " Arrivederci. " To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson Health Sciences Institute ************************************************************** To start receiving your own copy of the HSI e-Alert, visit: http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealert/freecopya.html Or forward this e-mail to a friend so they can sign-up to receive their own copy of the HSI e-Alert. ************************************************************** Sources: " Intermittent Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis with Oral Chondroitin Sulfate: A One-Year, Randomized, Double-Blind, Multicenter Study Versus Placebo " Osteoarthritis Cartilage, Vol. 12, No. 4, April 2004, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov " Chondroitin Sulphate May Slow Knee Osteoarthritis " NutraIngredients.com, 5/27/04, nutraingredients.com " A Controlled Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Osteoarthritis of the Knee " The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 347, No. 2, 7/11/02, nejm.org " A Knee Surgery for Arthritis Is Called Sham " The New York Times, 7/11/02, nytimes.com " Doctors in Italy's Perks-For-Scripts Probe " John Hooper, The Age, 5/28/04, theage.com.au " Over 4,000 Doctors Face Charges in Italian Drugs Scandal " John Hooper and Heather Stewart, The Guardian, 5/27/04, guardian.co.uk Copyright ©1997-2004 by www.hsibaltimore.com, L.L.C. 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