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Glucosamine Information Center recognizes that some of the terms may be difficult to understand, so a glossary of terms is provided below.
Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate
Two ingredients which have been shown to maintain joint cartilage and the structural integrity of joint connective tissue. Sulfate is a salt added to promote even mixture and distribution of the active ingredients
Investigational New Drug Application (IND)
A request for FDA authorization to test an investigational drug in humans
WOMAC
Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index, which assesses the symptoms of pain, stiffness and physical function in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee.
OA
Osteoarthritis, a disease that affects 20 million+ Americans
Kellgren-Lawrence
A well-known scale to measure OA progression in the knees
Double blind to placebo
Neither the patient nor the researcher knows which pills are the experimental ones and which are placebo (dummy pill). This "double blind" set up helps ensure the study findings are unbiased
Tid
The amount shown was taken three times per day. The total amount taken was 1500 mg glucosamine and 1200 chondroitin
Celecoxib
Medication used in the study; which is also known as Celebrex
Acetaminophen APAP
Acetaminophen / paracetamol; the scientific name of acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol
Adverse events
Any changes to health that occur during the study. At the study's end, the treatment and placebo groups are compared to learn if the treatments have side effects.
Intention-to-treat
A statistical method that evaluates data from all patients enrolled in the study, not just those that completed it. The goal is to reduce the bias that could happen if patients not getting any pain relief drop out, while those getting relief stay in the study.
Secondary outcomes
Results seen by researchers that the study was not designed to test or measure, but they were results seen nonetheless
HAQ
Health Assessment Questionnaire
P-value
The probability or likelihood that the observed result was due to an actual difference between the test and placebo products, and not due to chance
Floor effect
What they mean by lack of response is lack of a difference from placebo, attributing this to the fact that the improvement in the placebo group was greater than expected ("floor" effect). The protocol had estimated that 30-40% of the placebo treated patients would have pain improvement. Low WOMAC placebo was 61.7%, making it improbable that supplements would be significantly better.
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