Osteoarthritis and the Ideal Treatment Essay -- Medicine Health Papers

Osteoarthritis and the high-flown Treatment Osteoarthritis, or degenerative joint disease, is a form of arthritis characterized by the breakdown of cartilage within joints. Cartilage serves to allow for cushion at the ends of bones, and when the cushion is not sufficient, as in osteoarthritis, the bones rub together. As a result, osteoarthritis sufferers ar constantly plagued by stiff, swollen, and inflamed joints (http//www.arthritis.org/answers/diseasecenter/oa.asp). It is a relatively common condition, with an estimated 20 million American sufferers, most of whom are elderly (http//webmd.lycos.com/content/article/1668.50297). Traditional treatments include Tylenol, aspirin, or some other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), but the long-term negative effects of these drugs combined with the particular that they offer only short-term relief has led doctors and scientists to search for purify treatment options. While nutritional supplements as a form of preference medicine have been slow to gain acceptance by American physicians (Schenck, 2000), glucosamine has surfaced as a consistently effective treatment method for osteoarthritis, and when employ in conjunction with chondroitin, the relief this treatment program can provide for sufferers of this debilitating condition is long-awaited and much-welcomed. What is glucosamine?How does it work?How effective is the treatment?How does the glucosamine treatment examine to traditional methods of treatment?What evidence is offered in support of these claims?Whats the downside?scientific Analysis of DataConclusionBibliography What is glucosamine? Glucosamine is a natural sugar produced by the body and found in some foods (http//webmd.l... ...lysis. Journal of the American aesculapian Association, 283 (11), 1469-75. McCarty, M.F. (1994). The neglect of glucosamine as a treatment for osteoarthritis A in the flesh(predicate) perspective. Medical Hypotheses, 42, 323-327. Pipitone, V. R. (1991). Chondroprotection with chondroitin sulfate. Drugs Exp Clin Res, 17, 3-7. Schenck, R.C. Jr. (2000). New approaches to the treatment of osteoarthritis oral glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate. instructional Course Lectures, 49, 491-494. Tapadinhas, M.J., Rivera, I.C., & Bignamini, A.A. (1982). Oral glucosamine sulfate in the management of arthrosis Report on a multi-centre open investigation in Portugal. Pharmatherapeutica, 3, 157-168. Towheed, T.E., & Anastassiades, T.P. (2000). Glucosamine and chondroitin for treating symptoms of osteoarthritis evidence is wide touted but incomplete. JAMA, 283(11), 1483-1484.