Caution for patients using Glucosamine sulfate
| < Back to Prolotherapy Article Index |
Glucosamine sulfate (GS) has become a very popular supplement over the last 10 years because of its reputed benefits in maintaining joint health. It is a component of cartilage, and long term in my experience it has offered patients some benefits in partially reversing or at least alleviating the pain of the arthritic process. Many of the patients we see here at Caring Medical, however, have been taking glucosamine sulfate for many years without noticeable benefit. The pain that they experience and the weakness in the tissues is too much of a job for glucosamine sulfate to handle.
Prolotherapy on the other hand is always up to the task, and in the vast majority of cases greatly reduces the patient’s pain and improves joint function. In the last 4 or 5 years some research has been coming out which suggests a potential adverse effect from glucosamine sulfate. Specifically, it appears that glucosamine sulfate may be more powerful than glucose in promoting tissue insulin resistance. I have written about this problem extensively in the past. Insulin resistance is very bad news, and people who want to stay healthy need to avoid it.
What is happening inside the cells? It turns out that sugar is used by cells to turn off” protein messengers. An active signal protein will be masked and silenced by the addition of a sugar molecule tag”. This process is called glycosylation and in a nutshell, when it becomes excessive, its interference with vital cellular functions is the means by which diabetes causes all of its well known tissue damaging effects. I believe it also one of the primary ways that the human organism ages. The level of glycosylation can be measured by the HbA1C or "glycosylated hemoglobin” test. The good news here is that because the mechanism of Insulin resistance is becoming better elucidated, new treatments directed at untagging sugar coated proteins may open up new therapeutic opportunities for treating the advanced complications of diabetes and slow the aging process.
Apparently glucosamine sulfate acts even more powerfully than regular glucose in tagging protein molecules with glucose. It also has been shown in in-vitro (test tube) studies to directly increase the resistance of cultured muscle cells to the effect of insulin, and to potentially raise the blood glucose level. This work requires comment, and the attention of our patients, many of whom are taking glucosamine sulfate. What to do?
As a general rule if you are taking any supplements for health reasons, you should be under the care and supervision of a qualified natural medicine physician.
Be especially concerned if you are diabetic, insulin resistant, overweight, or intolerant to carbohydrates. Tests should be done, and a doctor should help you determine whether it is safe for you to use glucosamine sulfate.
Since it doesn’t work for everyone, patients should be very discriminating about using it at all until further studies are released. If you are not absolutely sure it has helped you, stop taking it.
If it has helped your arthritis, consult your doctor to see if it is safe for you to keep taking.
Considering the expense and the risk, putting your efforts and resources towards Prolotherapy makes a lot of sense. Prolotherapy works just fine without glucosamine sulfate.
< Back to Prolotherapy Article Index
 |
 |
