Gloucosamine sulphate

by **Rondetto** on Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:49 pm

Anyone use this? It's maybe not as good for you as first thought, read this:

A liver expert wants the public to be warned about the potential dangers of over-the-counter herbal remedies.

Dr John Dillon said there was a perception they were safe - despite not undergoing the same strict clinical tests as prescription medicines. The consultant gastroenterologist was testifying at a fatal accident inquiry into the death of Norman Ferrie, whose liver failed after he took a supplement used by many arthritis sufferers to ease the pain in their joints.

The 64-year-old died within weeks of starting a course of Glucosamine, which is made from shellfish. Dr Dillon, who is based at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, said it was one of three similar cases which showed up at the same time in Tayside.

He told the inquiry at Perth Sheriff Court: "We were confident the liver had been normal and that something had attacked it. Itwas an illness of weeks' duration. "He had been taking Glucosamine to help with pain and arthritis in his joints. The dating of his illnesswaswithin a very short time frame of starting to take that. "We had two other cases where the patient became ill after taking this.We were becoming suspicious of Glucosamine causing a reaction and causing liver failure. "He had stopped taking the Glucosamine by the time we saw him. Our advice to him was not to restart taking it."

Mr Ferrie, from Invergowrie, started taking the tablets in April or May 2004 and had become extremely ill by mid-June. He was admitted t o Ninewells on June 30, but suffered liver failure and died in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on July 3, 2004. DrDillon said: "Therewas a strong temporal relationship between him starting to take the Glucosamine and the onset of his illness.

"He didn't respond to the therapy they used to treat the infection. The infection became so severe that it led to his ultimate demise. "We have an association between Glucosamine and this event and that is clearly very worrying. "

by **Mal 54** on Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:58 pm

Blimey, that's quite worrying, my husband takes Glucosamine when he remembers to take them. I shall definitely get him to read this information.

by **tercar** on Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:39 pm

a friend of mine is prescribed these from his GP. i also take them and i think they help with the pain. must do so more research
cheers.

by **Rondetto** on Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:32 pm

If you've taken them for any length of time, then maybe you'll be ok. But to some as seen above they can be very dangerous.

by **hanoverhealthfoods** on Tue May 27, 2008 11:23 am

Countless millions of people the world over take glucosamine products safely. They are normally made from shellfish extracts so people who are allergic to shellfish should avoid them and find one of the vegetarian forms of glucosamine.

Glucosamine has been researched globally since the early 1970s and problems with liver failure have simply not surfaced.

Individuals can suffer from ideopathic liver failure which can occur at any time and has no good medical explanation. Of course, when this sad, but freak, occurence happens it is always the supplements that get the blame. But, there is no evidence at all to suggest that there is such a link.

John McKee
Hanover Healthfoods
Edinburgh

by **jackieblack** on Tue May 27, 2008 11:32 am

My Dad had acupuncture for his arthritic pain when he was waiting for his two hip transplants. He was the biggest sceptic going before he tried it but it was wonderful, he was able to come off all his painkillers (and stopped taking the Glucosamine).

by **tsuser** on Tue May 27, 2008 5:18 pm

Any medication can have unexpected side effects. I was watching a programme yesterday which showed a man with severe anaphalactic shock from taking Ibuprofen. No history of problems with any medication prior to that.
If 2 or 3 other people are shown to have similar reaction does that make Ibuprofen 'dangerous'??

by **melissa123** on Mon Jun 16, 2008 3:16 pm

I work in Holland and Barrett. Loads of people take this, the only way i know of it being dangerous or damaging is if you have a shellfish allergy!

by **Rondetto** on Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:20 pm

Of course you're right Melissa, this is the study that I brought up above, but apparently people have taken Gluco/sulphate without knowledge of an allergy.
If you can eat shellfish of course, then it's ok to use them.