Glucoasamine/ Chondroitin- cheaper isn’t worth it
posted by Dr. Deb on June 9th, 2010 in Dogs
Osteoarthritis afflicts at least 2 in 10 dogs– either because of congenital diseases like hip dysplasia, injuries such as cruciate ligament rupture, or age related degenerative joint disease. As pet medicine has progressed, we have developed lots of new therapies for managing canine arthritis medically. In early stages, supplements, including Glucosamine/ Chondroitin preparations, are commonly recommended.
There are hundreds or thousands of different over the counter Glucosamine/ Chondroitin preparations available. How do you know which one to get? It’s tempting to just buy the least expensive one on the shelf. But cheaper is not better when it comes to Glucosamine/ Chondroitin supplements.
First, Glucosamine and Chondroitin should always be given together as they are both constituents of normal cartilage. And, the idea behind usng them in the first place is to provide the body with the building blocks of cartilage in the hopes of allowing the cartilage to heal. There is a lot of debate as to whether eating your cartilage building blocks, sending them through your digestive tract, ever gets them to inflamed joints. This is because Glucosamine and Chondroitin are both very large molecules that are mostly digested, not absorbed, as they pass through the GI tract. So, most of the Glucosamine and Chondroitin eaten is eliminated– in the backyard, in the case of our dog patients.
Very few companies go to the trouble of specially processing the Glucosamine and Chondroitin, cleaving off superfluous portions of the molecules, to make the Glucosamine and Chondroitin more highly absorbable– more “Bioavailable” — because the process is very expensive. Furthermore, as Glucosamine and Chondroitin are nutritional supplements, sometimes called Neutraceuticals, there is no agency (like the FDA) so supervise the processing, or even label claims on the products sold over the counter.
Most veterinarians agree that there is one company, NutraMax, that provides a superior, highly bioavailable Glucosamine/ Chondroitin
product. This high bioavailablility is what sets their product line apart from all the rest. The company has gone to the trouble and expense to carefully process the molecules. They have gone to the expense of performing clinical studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of their product as well. Other companies haven’t done that.
This quality assurance and effectiveness assurance to make for a more expensive product than you can buy at the drug store. Only you can decide if you want to pay more for a product that is most likely to work the best, or pay less for a product that make work somewhat, with much of it ending up. literally, in the dirt. This is not always an easy choice, given the over all expense of treating a large breed dog with osteoarthritis for life with usually more than one nutritional supplement and maybe pain medications.
An open discussion with your veterinarian will help you determine the best Glucosamine/ Chondroitin supplement for both you and your dog!
