Research has shown that Ayurvedic remedies may be safer and just as effective as glucosamine and celecoxib in treating patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease affecting middle aged and older people. It is characterized by progressive damage to the joint cartilage, the slippery material at the end of long bones, and causes changes in the structures around the joint.

These changes can include fluid accumulation, bony overgrowth, and loosening and weakness of muscles and tendons, all of which may limit movement and cause pain and swelling.

Most commonly affected are the weight-bearing joints, the knees, hips and spine. Osteoarthritis in the knee and hip areas can generate chronic pain or discomfort during standing or walking. Deterioration of disks between spine vertebrae can cause back and neck stiffness and pain.

Ayurvedic therapy is a system of traditional medicine native to India, and considered an alternative and complementary form of medicine in the western world.

Researchers recently spent five years studying the safety and effectiveness of ayurvedic herbal remedies, in comparison to glucosamine and celecoxib, two commonly used treatments for osteoarthritis. Celecoxib is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that carries an FDA-mandated "black box warning" for cardiovascular and gastrointestinal risk.

In this randomized, double-blind study, researchers followed 440 patients with painful knee osteoarthritis. After dividing patients into one of four groups (two groups were placed on different types of ayurvedic therapy, one group was placed on glucosamine, and one group on celecoxib), researchers compared the effectiveness and safety of each therapy over a 24-week period by looking at active pain, difficulty and function, and side effects in the patients.

Twenty-eight percent of the patients withdrew from the study; withdrawals were equally spread among the four groups. Researchers found that none of the groups experienced serious side effects, those taking ayurvedic therapy showed even fewer side effects overall. The results showed ayurvedic treatments to be relatively safe and as effective as glucosamine and Celecoxib for improving pain and function in patients with osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a difficult to treat disorder that has very few therapeutic options in modern medicine, explains Arvind Chopra, lead investigator in the study. “This scientifically designed drug trial demonstrates the therapeutic usefulness of two standardized Ayurvedic derived purely herbal formulations in the symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis in the knees over a 24-week period. The Ayurvedic remedies demonstrated equivalent efficacy with better safety to Glucosamine and Celecoxib, which are popularly used to treat osteoarthritis. Documented historical use & our data confirm a potentially superior safety of Ayurvedic medicine,” says Dr. Chopra.

The results of a previous randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of RA-11, a  standardized multiplant Ayurvedic drug (Withania somnifera, Boswellia serrata, Zingiber officinale, and Curcuma longa) currently being used to treat arthritis, demonstrated the potential efficacy and safety of RA- 11 in the symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis.

Patients should consult their rheumatologists before taking this, or any, over-the-counter medication.
References:
1. Arvind Chopra, et al. A 24 Week RDB Multicentric Trial to Demonstrate Equivalence between Individual Drugs for Symptomatic Treatment of OA Knees: Ayurvedic (Indian Asian) , Glucosamine and Celecoxib. American College of Rheumatology.
2. Chopra A, Lavin P, Patwardhan B, Chitre D. A 32-Week Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Evaluation of RA-11, an Ayurvedic Drug, on Osteoarthritis of the Knees. J Clin Rheumatol. 2004 Oct;10(5):236-245. PMID: 17043520.