There have been numerous placebo-controlled trials and meta-analyses addressing this question over the last couple of decades, most concluding that neither glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate nor the combination provides better symptom relief than placebo (Fransen et al., PMID 24395557, Miller and Cleg...

I do not agree with allowing the patients to take glucosamine, etc., since FDA has no oversight. I recall the tryptophan fiasco when 2000 people in the US were paralyzed by a bad batch from a fairly reputable company in Japan. We have no idea what is put in these pills and the cost to the patients i...