Glucosamine’s effectiveness in treating arthritis remains controversial, however a study suggesting that the supplement, when taken regularly, will help prevent heart attacks certainly adds to its appeal. According to findings from a large prospective study just published in The BMJ, habitual glucosamine use is associated with a 15% lower risk of cardiovascular events. Breaking that down a bit further, it appears regular glucosamine lowered the risk of dying from a cardiovascular event by 22%, lowered the risk of coronary heart disease by 18% and lowered the risk of stroke by 9%. All statistically significant results. The research involved over 440,000 people from the UK biobank who didn’t have cardiovascular disease at the outset. Courtesy of an initial questionnaire, researchers knew who was taking glucosamine and how often. Interestingly about 20% of the cohort, reported they took the non-vitamin, non-mineral supplement daily – a figure the researchers said was representative in other adult populations around the world – including Australia. The cohort was then followed for a median of seven years. Over this time there were over 10,000 CVD events including heart attacks and strokes, with over 3,000 of these resulting in death. Even though the study was basically observational, the size of the sample strengthens its value. As does the fact that the researchers obtained a wealth of information about the patient’s diet, medical history and lifestyle at the initial questionnaire, which was all utilised in the final analysis. Consequently the 15% lower risk of a cardiovascular event associated with taking glucosamine can’t be easily written off as caused by another confounder. The researchers were able to conclude the association was “independent of traditional risk factors, including sex, age, income, body mass index, physical activity, healthy diet, alcohol intake, smoking status, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, arthritis, drug use, and other supplement use.” So how does it work? How does glucosamine positively affect the cardiovascular system? According to the study authors, there are a number of plausible mechanisms that could explain the link. One relates to the anti-inflammatory properties of glucosamine. There already exists evidence that regular glucosamine reduces CRP levels, a marker of systemic inflammation. Another theory relates to how glucosamine affects metabolism. “[A] previous study found that glucosamine could mimic a low carbohydrate diet by decreasing glycolysis and increasing amino acid catabolism in mice; therefore, glucosamine has been treated as an energy restriction mimetic agent,” they said. But while the study findings appear very exciting, the study authors themselves suggest caution, claiming their study had some limitations. Among these limitations was the fact that details about the dose, duration of use, type of glucosamine supplement was not recorded. Obviously further research is needed to test this association. Nonetheless, the trial is destined to fuel on-going interest in the supplement, albeit for a totally different condition from the one we’re used to.  

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