The Arthritis Research Campaign has launched the first evidence-based report dedicated to the use of complementary medicines in arthritis using results from randomized controlled trials. Complementary medicines are widely used by people with arthritis as they seek to avoid taking potentially harmful drugs, preferring natural products.

The purpose of the report is to provide a resource for patients and health care professionals by giving a summary of the current evidence on whether individual commonly used complementary medicines may be of use in the treatment of some types of arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions. The report focuses on the two most common forms of arthritis, namely rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis as well as the chronic musculoskeletal pain disorder fibromyalgia.

Rheumatoid arthritis, the most common inflammatory arthritis, is a chronic disease that affects the joints, often those in a person’s wrists, fingers, and feet. Common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis include pain, stiffness and fatigue.

Osteoarthritis is an extremely common disorder, increasing with age and is often referred to as “wear and tear” of the joints in the body. The surface of the joint is damaged and the surrounding bone grows thicker. The most common joints affected are those of the knees, hips, hands and spine.

Fibromyalgia is one of the most common reasons for being referred to a rheumatologist and the condition involves pain experienced all over the body accompanied by fatigue, sleep disturbance and tenderness to touch. The condition does not result in any damage to the joints or muscles that can explain the symptoms.

The report has only considered compounds which are taken orally (by mouth) or are applied to the skin, therapies such as acupuncture, chiropractic, massage and several others which have been commonly used for arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions have not been considered.

In evaluating compounds the report has relied heavily on data from randomized controlled trials. These are studies where patients are randomly allocated to one of the treatments being compared and then at the end of the study the results are evaluated according to whether patients, for example, on a new treatment had a better outcome than patients on an existing treatment.

The report has categorized each medicine into one of five categories:

The report also categorized all compounds according to their safety profile. It should be emphasized that most conventional medicines have adverse effects, some serious.

The categorization the report has made on safety is as follows:

Below is a summary chart of products tested and score results, the full report can be downloaded free as a PDF from the Arthritis Research Campaign.