[at-l] Opinions about Knees

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

Skeeter wrote:
> Lynn, the two biggest changes for me; first was switching to two trekking
> poles. I believe Mara Factor had a link on her website to a page that
> showed the correct usage, but haven't chased it down in a while.
> The second was that I started taking glucosamine sulfate a couple of years
> ago. Actually, I started taking it twice, the first time I didn't take it
> long enough, and it takes some time (I've heard up to three months, but it
> only took me about two months) to build up in your system. I was wondering
> if it was really doing anything for me, and I one point I stopped taking
in
> for various reasons (ran out, off on vacation, etc), and after about six
> weeks my knees started to hurt again. Started back on it and after two
> weeks or so was Ok again.
> A friend of my brothers is a physicians assistant, and she regards the
> whole thing as psychosomatic, but I don't care as long as it keeps my
knees
> from hurting...
>
Let me tell you about glucosamine being psychosomatic. I had a dog with bad
joint problems. So bad that he had trouble getting up from the floor and
even 2-3 steps were difficult for him to negotiate. A friend (who had a dog
with a similar problem) told me to give the dog glucosamine. I gave him 1000
mg/day stuffed in a piece of hot dog. He didn't even know he was getting
'medicine'. In about 4-6 weeks time he was prancing up and down the porch
steps as agile as ever and we came home to find him asleep in on the sofa.
He hadn't been able to get on the sofa for over 6 months before we started
the glucosamine. I could be wrong but I don't see how a dog would get any
psychosomatic effect from taking a pill he didn't even know he was getting.
FWIW veterinarians have been recommending glucosamine for years and are
convinced that it works.

FYI - How it works: Glucosamine is not, repeat NOT, a pain reliever. I say
that because the last time this topic came up someone quoted a study
comparing glucosamine and ibuprophen. They are entirely different things
that do entirely different things. Glucosamine (and to a lesser extent
chrondroitin) are dietary supplements which your body uses in
repairing/rebuilding the soft tissue padding between the bones in your
joints. If (emphasis on the word 'if') you are experiencing joint pain that
is the result of damage to the soft tissue between the bones in your joints,
then glucosamine can have the long term effect of reducing or eliminating
the pain by restoring the soft tissue to the necessary health. Unlike an
NSAID such as ibuprophen which only relives the symptoms (pain) without
healing the cause, it is not fast. Rebuilding the soft tissue takes at least
a few weeks/months and if your pain is from some cause other than damage to
the padding between your joints, glucosamine will not help.

I take glucosamine. It works for me but I have knee damage from running. I
would not recommend taking it like a vitamin pill as a 'just in case'
measure if you are not experiencing knee pain. Also if you are diabetic or
tend toward high blood sugar talk to your doctor before taking it. It does
contain a form of sugar ("glucos"amine).

Saunterer