Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

This comes up quite a lot when we discuss food. So I thought I would give it its own thread.

Should we be looking for dog food that contains these supplements? Or even feeding them to dogs separately as a supplement?

I found this study, from 2007, which is small but finds that supplements helped improve symptoms for dogs with osteoarthritis.

However, this article written in 2009 which looks at the research at that time, is not enthusiastic about the benefits . I am not sure how much progress, if any, has been made since then. Lochan may be able to update us.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

[quote author=editor link=topic=4277.msg51395#msg51395 date=1391243514]
this article written in 2009
[/quote]

I don't think that link works - was it to the 2009 The SkeptVet Blog round up of evidence? In which case, that's here:

http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2009/06/veterinary-joint-supplements-glucosamine-chondroitin/

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

I haven't read the articles on the two studies but I do feed a supplement to one of my dogs. Caddie gives it her all when she is out working and tends to stiffen up the next morning but since she has been on Yumove any stiffness has gone.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

I'm right in the middle of trying to decide what to do - several other owners who have dogs with cruiciate ligament repairs swear by yumove. Just trying to get to the bottom of it all. It's not an inexpensive choice over the lifetime of the dog.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

Not sure about the benefits if added to the food by manufacturer. However, at 16 weeks my Lab fractured his elbow and it was screwed and had two pins, the operation was done by specialist vets and it was recommended that he take a product with Glucosamine and Chondroitin, which he has done ever since. He will be 8 years in March and although he swings his leg out when running he has no evidence of any pain or arthritis (up to this moment!).

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

Meg used to have glucosamine and chrondoitin (recommended by vet) but then I changed her dry food to Arden Grange light which contains them and vet said it was okay to stop the tablets. She got diagnosed with OCD and HD in 2008 and she's been fine.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

Yes, thanks Julie. Brain not working today

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

two similar threads running at the moment.

this is the review article in the BMJ. so they look at a range of studies done:

http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c4675

(just read the conclusions)

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health


The bmj review is for people, but it's interesting isn't it. I stopped bothering with supplements for myself a while back.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

With regards to the BMJ article, if you take a look at the "Read Responses" Tab just under the title and authors, there was a recent update dated in Jan 14, from a review published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases. The summary/abstract of this forms the bulk of the rapid response.
For those fans of Glucosamine & Chondroitin, it is a little more positive.
I am a statistics numpty though, so I always just read summaries and conclusions too.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

Both vet and surgeon said use green lipped mussel after Lady had her ED operation. She has the human stuff and human dose each day. I also take it. Noconclusion to be drawn from Lady's experience other than she is fine.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

As I said on the other thread, I gave up using glucosamine. Only a full hip replacement could help me, in the end.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

Each to his own and if it makes you feel better, why not? I am afraid as an old cynic unless there is proven scientific evidence I would not waste my money on such substances, either for humans or animals.

Roger

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

[quote author=editor link=topic=4277.msg51520#msg51520 date=1391275572]

The bmj review is for people, but it's interesting isn't it. I stopped bothering with supplements for myself a while back.

[/quote]

The OH is a biologist and she said that she believes that a comparison can be made between dogs and humans as it its being used to treat the same complaint.

But she doesn't do human/dog medicine much so could be wrong. Seems logical though.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

I would neither take a medicine nor give it to my dog unless its efficacy had been proven as part of a blind trial that incorporated a placebo, but as I said earlier, each to his own.

Roger

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

There have been some limited trials here - http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/arthritis-information/complementary-and-alternative-medicines/cam-report/complementary-medicines-for-osteoarthritis.aspx

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

[quote author=Morwenstow link=topic=4277.msg51970#msg51970 date=1391445959]
I would neither take a medicine nor give it to my dog unless its efficacy had been proven as part of a blind trial that incorporated a placebo, but as I said earlier, each to his own.

Roger
[/quote]
I feel the same way but as someone who has been involved in clinical trial work I would point out that it is increasingly difficult to get ethical permission to perform a placebo-controlled trial in disease-affected pets. This is due to potential suffering in the pets receiving the placebo as opposed to the active agent. All clinical trial work I have been involved in over the last 10 years or so have involved trialling the potential new drug against the current gold standard. An interesting trial for glucosamine and chondroitin would be a prospective trial taking matched littermates and giving 50 a supplement from weaning and 50 a placebo and compare the rates and severity of arthritis in the two groups over their lifetime. As far as I am aware this has not been done but I am a vet dermatologist who struggles enough to keep up with the literature in my own specialism!
Greenbull- dogs are not small people and the pathogenesis of similar diseases in dogs and humans is often wildly different, as are their metabolic pathways for dealing with drugs so using human studies to assess efficacy in dogs is fraught with so many difficulties as to be invalid in most cases.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health


I feel the same way but as someone who has been involved in clinical trial work I would point out that it is increasingly difficult to get ethical permission to perform a placebo-controlled trial in disease-affected pets.
[/quote]

Don't get me wrong as I have the greatest of respect for the medical professions and fully understand the ethical, financial and practical issues that prevent these trials being carried out on every substance known to man. The problem is that alternative medicine has been around for a long time and the resources are not available to give a clear direction of what is beneficial and what is not. Understandably, the public sits on the fence and in the absence of any other solution and providing the treatment does no harm, why not give it a go? For my own part I have experienced the hype surrounding the miraculous benefits of such substances as vitamins and supplements that I now take a hard-nosed view and trust nothing unless it is backed by science.

Roger

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

Well, completely anecdotal, but when my previous dog reached his senior years and started getting stiff, I gave him a glucosamine supplement and he really seemed to improve on it. Much less difficulty getting up from lying down, etc. So it worked for him, in my opinion.

 

Re: Glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health

My vet and also the surgeon who operated on Lady's elbows recommended Green Lipped mussel. They both said it works. So there's two positive votes.