I think the more important question is, "What are your reasons for choosing chondroitin/glucosamine as a medication for your knees?" While C/G has been beneficial for many people, it's not a panacea for all types of knee pain.
The other consideration I really think people in general should...consider (and this is a bit of a tangent to the main discussion) is if you're having osteoarthritic pain (i.e. pain from osteoarthritis, and I'm not saying that vin has this) in your knees, should you really be training and competing in a sport in which running (and thus, chronic, repetitive, high loading on the knee joint) is a significant part? Ultimately, this is a personal decision--I guess it's a question of the trade-off between the value of running vs. the long-term viability of the joint.
But, I really don't think ANOTHER discussion about what "joint space narrowing" means from both a clinical and histological viewpoint is going to accomplish anything other than yet another argument about "academics" being too concerned with "semantics". C/G has benefitted many people; and nothing makes a believer more than a personal experience with therapeutic "success". If C/G has worked or works for you as an individual, great! There is certainly little to no harm associated with C/G supplementation. However, I think it's equally important that people make their decisions in a fully informed way, which includes understanding the limitations of the evidence (both positive and negative).
But none of this is terribly relevant to vin's original question.
|