Glucosamine potential treatment for knee osteoarthritis

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Glucosamine could be a potential pain relief for knee osteoarthritis, but patients should pay for the treatment themselves, doctors have said.

Published evidence suggests that oral glucosamine sulphate provides modest pain relief in knee osteoarthritis and appears to be relatively safe.

But there are questions about the cost-effectiveness of glucosamine sulphate, which means it should not yet be available in the NHS, they wrote.

Patients on warfarin should not take glucosamine supplements, since the combination makes internal bleeding more likely, they added.

Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin (2008) 46: 81-84