John:

First off let me say that this is the most optimistic book on this “disease” that I know of. The author seems highly qualified and really knows his subject.

I have joint pain (hip and knee), and I take glucosamine and chondroitin for the pain. It seems to help. But, I have my doubts that these things “build” or “rebuild” cartilage. One orthopedic surgeon in L.A. wrote that there is no evidence that they build or rebuild it, and that from what he read, glucosamine only “mimics” Tylenol on a molecular level, so if you take it, the pain is less, but it is the same as taking an aspirin. Trust me, I want to judge that these things really rebuild my knees and restore cartilage, but like I said, I have real doubts about that now. Chondroitin – I have read and heard from doctors – cannot infiltrate the stomach wall, and there is no way it can reach the joints, from what I read. Most Glucosamine studies are any too limited, or are from Europe from long ago, so it is highly doubtful if they are excellent studies. I looked up ginger on the Mayo clinic website, and it stated that ginger is not proven as a cure for arthritis, but some limited trials suggest it might help (Mayo has one of the best rheumatology and arthritis departments in the world). It gave the studies that show ginger helps against joint inflamation/pain only a “B”, i.e., there is some evidence, but it is not iron-clad, that it works (but there is no evidence that it does any harm, any).

But I want to make it very clear that I am not a doctor or scientist, and so what I am relating here should be viewed as that of a moderately-well informed reader who is not a doctor. All I am doing is relating some doubts that I have read from doctors in this field, after doing some research into this.

I like the exercises and the general discussion of arthritis in this book. I would still highly recommend this book. It is one of the more optimist books on the subject, too. I like the book. I even bought the pills the doctor sells, Zingerflex, and I take them each day. They DO reduce my subjective pain, too. I have nearly no knee issues now. But, like I said, I would treat glucosamine and ginger as pain reducers that are safer than other pain reducers, but I don’t reckon chondroitin works, from my layman’s reading on that, and I reckon ginger might work, or might not. Most doctors view glucosamine as effective at reducing pain.

Rating: 4 / 5