Study proves chondroitin sulphate better for knee osteoarthritis than multi-billion dollar anti-inflammatory drug

Results presented at a recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Rheumatology show that supplements of chondroitin sulfate, a natural substance that is an important structural component of cartilage, are significantly better than celecoxib, a multi-billion dollar anti-inflammatory drug, in reducing long term progression of knee osteoarthritis. Carried out by researchers from Canada over a period of two years, the study found that, unlike celecoxib, chondroitin sulfate was able to slow down the progression of osteoarthritis by reducing the loss of cartilage. Noting that this is the first time the superiority of chondroitin sulfate over celecoxib has been demonstrated in a study of this type, the researchers concluded that their findings have important implications regarding the usefulness of the supplement for long term management of knee osteoarthritis and its impact on disease outcome.   

The study was designed as a double-blind randomized controlled trial, which meant that patients were randomly assigned to either the supplement group or the drug group and that, during the trial, neither the patients nor the researchers knew who was in which. Over a two-year period, a total of 194 knee osteoarthritis patients from several different treatment centres were given either 1200 mg of chondroitin sulfate or 200 mg of celecoxib per day. Results from scans confirmed that the progression of the disease was noticeably slower in patients receiving the chondroitin sulfate.

Importantly, therefore, not only are supplements containing chondroitin sulfate superior to celecoxib in the control of osteoarthritis, they are also completely safe. Celecoxib, on the other hand, is far from safe and has a large number of serious side-effects that include liver problems; bleeding in the stomach or intestines; increased risk of heart attack or stroke; allergic reactions; breathing problems; skin problems; bloody or black, tarry stools; urinary problems; chest pain; shortness of breath; coughing up blood; heart rhythm problems; nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and stomach pain; numbness or weakness in arms, legs or on one side of the body; calf pain; sudden or severe headache; dizziness; problems with vision, speech, or walking; swelling in hands, ankles, or feet; and many others.

One wonders how many osteoarthritis patients would actually agree to take celecoxib if their doctors were first, before writing a prescription, legally obliged to read out the full list of possible side-effects? Without doubt, the answer is not very many.

Despite the serious side-effects they cause, the fact is that dangerous drugs such as celecoxib bring massive financial returns to the pharma industry. Not just directly from the sales they accrue, but also indirectly as a result of the additional medications that are almost inevitably required in order to treat the problems they cause. Increasing the incidence of human health problems is highly profitable to pharma companies, which is why they concentrate on developing patented drugs that merely target symptoms and avoid the cure of diseases.

Contrary to this mercenary approach to disease, through recognizing that the primary cause of today’s most common diseases, including osteoarthritis, is a chronic deficiency of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other natural substances in our diets, nutritional and Cellular Medicine form the scientific basis of a truly preventive approach that can safely and effectively improve human health, save lives and dramatically reduce national healthcare costs. Faced with such a clear threat to its existence, the trillion-dollar-a-year drug industry is intent on preventing people from accessing non-patentable natural health therapies such as chondroitin sulfate. Our job, and yours through sharing this information, has to be to ensure it doesn’t succeed.