Knee Arthritis Drugs Beat Placebos, but Study Finds No Clear Winner
Knee Arthritis Drugs Beat Placebos, but Study Finds No Clear Winner
Injections were rated slightly more effective at fighting pain than pills
TUESDAY, Jan. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Pain-relieving treatments for knee arthritis all work better than doing nothing -- but it's hard to point to a clear winner, a new research review concluded.
Using data from almost 140 studies, researchers found all of the widely used arthritis treatments -- from over-the-counter painkillers to pain-relieving injections -- brought more relief to aching knees over three months than did placebo pills.
But there were some surprises in the study, according to lead researcher Dr. Raveendhara Bannuru, of Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
Overall, the biggest benefit came from injections of hyaluronic acid (HA) -- a treatment some professional medical groups consider only marginally effective.
Hyaluronic acid is a lubricating substance found naturally in the joints. Over the years, studies have been mixed as to whether injections of synthetic HA help arthritic joints, and the treatment remains under debate.
Bannuru cautioned that despite his team's positive findings, it's not clear whether hyaluronic acid itself deserves the credit.
That's because his team found a large "placebo effect" across the HA studies. Patients who received injections of an inactive substance often reported pain relief, too. As a whole, they did better than people in other trials who were given placebo pills.
According to Bannuru's team, that suggests there is something about the "delivery method" -- injections into the knee joint, whatever the substance -- that helps ease some people's pain.
But there's no clear explanation for why that would be, Bannuru said.
He and his colleagues report their findings in the Jan. 6 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 27 million Americans have osteoarthritis -- the "wear and tear" form of arthritis where the cartilage cushioning a joint breaks down. The knees are among the most commonly affected joints.
In the earlier stages of knee arthritis, doctors often recommend oral painkillers like acetaminophen (Tylenol) or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve).
Injections are another option -- either with hyaluronic acid or the anti-inflammatory drug cortisone.
No Clear Winner Among Knee Arthritis Drugs
Injections were rated slightly more effective at fighting pain than pills
TUESDAY, Jan. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Pain-relieving treatments for knee arthritis all work better than doing nothing -- but it's hard to point to a clear winner, a new research review concluded.
Using data from almost 140 studies, researchers found all of the widely used arthritis treatments -- from over-the-counter painkillers to pain-relieving injections -- brought more relief to aching knees over three months than did placebo pills.
But there were some surprises in the study, according to lead researcher Dr. Raveendhara Bannuru, of Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
Overall, the biggest benefit came from injections of hyaluronic acid (HA) -- a treatment some professional medical groups consider only marginally effective.
Hyaluronic acid is a lubricating substance found naturally in the joints. Over the years, studies have been mixed as to whether injections of synthetic HA help arthritic joints, and the treatment remains under debate.
Bannuru cautioned that despite his team's positive findings, it's not clear whether hyaluronic acid itself deserves the credit.
That's because his team found a large "placebo effect" across the HA studies. Patients who received injections of an inactive substance often reported pain relief, too. As a whole, they did better than people in other trials who were given placebo pills.
According to Bannuru's team, that suggests there is something about the "delivery method" -- injections into the knee joint, whatever the substance -- that helps ease some people's pain.
But there's no clear explanation for why that would be, Bannuru said.
He and his colleagues report their findings in the Jan. 6 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 27 million Americans have osteoarthritis -- the "wear and tear" form of arthritis where the cartilage cushioning a joint breaks down. The knees are among the most commonly affected joints.
In the earlier stages of knee arthritis, doctors often recommend oral painkillers like acetaminophen (Tylenol) or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve).
Injections are another option -- either with hyaluronic acid or the anti-inflammatory drug cortisone.
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