Medpagetoday.com REPORTS HERE that "six months of treatment with chondroitin led to significant improvements in pain and function among patients with osteoarthritis (OA) in their hands, a single-center randomized trial found. Global hand pain rated on a 100-mm visual analog scale fell by 20 mm for patients taking chondroitin, compared with 11.3 mm for patients receiving placebo ...."

"In addition, scores on the 30-point Functional Index for Hand OA decreased by 2.9 points in the chondroitin group and by 0.7 points in the placebo group, giving a between-group difference in change of -2.14, the researchers reported ...."

"More than half of people older than 60 experience hand OA, with the most commonly involved joints being the distal and proximal interphalangeal, the trapeziometacarpal, and the thumb interphalangeal. But the therapeutic options are few and data on the efficacy of these therapies are scarce, the authors stated."

"Oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are helpful for pain relief, but they can cause gastrointestinal side effects and their long-term use is hampered by potentially serious cardiovascular adverse effects."

"Topical anti-inflammatory agents also can be somewhat effective, but are not generally convenient for use in a chronic condition."

"Acetaminophen is another option, although in the population most affected by hand OA, this drug can have negative effects on blood pressure."

"To explore the potential clinical benefits of chondroitin [this study] enrolled 162 patients with severely symptomatic OA, assigning them to six months of daily chondroitin (800 mg) or placebo. Chondrotin is marketed as a dietary supplement in the U.S., but licensed as a prescription OA treatment in much of Europe."

"The study drug contained purified chondroitin sulfate derived from fish sources."
"Patients all had baseline pain scores of at least 40 mm on the 100-mm visual analog scale and had at least two joints with radiographic evidence of OA. They were allowed to take rescue acetaminophen in maximum daily doses up to 4 grams."

"Adverse events were reported by 42.5% of the chondroitin patients and by 41.5% of the placebo group."

"Three patients in the active treatment group withdrew because of adverse events, as did eight patients in the placebo group. At the end of the study, tolerability was rated as good or excellent in 96.3% of the active treatment patients and 90.8% of placebo patients."

"Chondroitin has not been directly compared with NSAIDs, but the overall magnitude of effect appears to be similar, according to the researchers."

"The effect size for pain was 'relatively modest,' but the improvement in functional scores seen at six months 'is indicative of a positive clinical effect of [chondroitin] in this study population,'" authors observed. "They noted that the advantage of anti-inflammatory drugs is prompt relief of symptoms, with the drawback of long-term safety concerns."

"In contrast, the benefits of [chondroitin] appear to take several months to develop, but with hardly any side effects, and this could help reduce the need for long-term [NSAID] therapy in patients with hand OA," they explained.