Arthritis Remedy Helps Prevents Lung Cancer

You probably think of the supplement glucosamine as a builder of cartilage that can help prevent arthritis or ease arthritis pain. New research shows the supplement can also help prevent lung cancer!

Researchers from the Cancer Prevention Unit at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle studied nearly 75,000 adults (aged 50 to 76) for 10 years. They found that those with a high use of glucosamine had a 23% lower risk of developing lung cancer.

Now, compare the positive effect of glucosamine on arthritis and lung cancer to the negative effects of pain-relieving NSAIDs such as Motrin, which are linked to nearly 17,000 deaths a year from GI bleeding, plus double the risk of heart attack and stroke. The natural remedy glucosamine is almost free of side effects, much less expensive — and actually prolongs life (being associated with a 17% lower risk of death during 1 large study). You would think that doctors would be throwing out the Motrin and passing out glucosamine to all their patients. Unfortunately, as doctors seem to learn virtually everything they know from drug companies, they're not rushing to trade in Motrin for glucosamine. But they should be!

References

"Use of glucosamine and chondroitin and lung cancer risk in the VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort." Brasky TM, Lampe JW, Slatore CG, White E.Cancer Causes Control. 2011 Sep;22(9):1333-42. Epub 2011 Jun 25.