NEWS
West Virginia University School of Medicine
Glucosamine may reduce overall death rates as effectively as regular exercise says WVU study
Glucosamine supplements may reduce overall mortality about as well as regular exercise does , according to a new epidemiological study from West Virginia University ( WVU ).
“ Does this mean if you get off work at 5 o ’ clock one day , you should just skip the gym , take a glucosamine pill , and go home instead ?” said Dana King , professor and chair of the WVU Department of Family Medicine , who led the study . “ That ’ s not what we suggest . Keep exercising , but the thought that taking a pill would also be beneficial is intriguing .”
He and his research partner , Jun Xiang — a WVU health data analyst — assessed data from 16,686 adults who completed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999- 2010 . All the participants were at least 40 years old . King and Xiang merged these data with 2015 mortality figures .
After controlling for various factors — such as participants ’ age , sex , smoking status , and activity level — the researchers found that taking glucosamine / chondroitin every day for a year or longer was associated with a 39 % reduction in all-cause mortality .
It was also linked to a 65 % reduction in cardiovascular-related deaths . That ’ s a category that includes deaths from stroke , coronary artery disease , and heart disease , the United States ’ biggest killer .
“ Once we took everything into account , the impact was pretty significant ,” King said .
The results appear in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine . King himself takes glucosamine / chondroitin , one of the most common formulations of glucosamine supplements .
“ I ’ m in a local cyclists ’ club , and we go for rides on weekends ,” he said . “ One day I asked the other cyclists if they took glucosamine , and everyone did . And I thought , ‘ Well , I wonder if this is really helpful ?’ That ’ s how I got curious about it .”
He explains that because this is an epidemiological study — rather than a clinical trial — it doesn ’ t offer definitive proof that glucosamine / chondroitin makes death less likely , but he does call the results encouraging .
“ In my view , it ’ s important that people know about this so they can discuss the findings with their doctor and make an informed choice ,” he said . “ Glucosamine is over the counter , so it is readily available .”
Source : www . jabfm . org / content / jabfp / 33 / 6 / 842 . full . pdf
WVU receives $ 1.2 million telehealth grant to connect rural ERs with medical specialists
Rural emergency departments often lack the medical specialists who staff larger , urban hospitals . Yet rural patients have the same conditions — and need the same prompt care — that people in cities do .
West Virginia University ( WVU ) researcher Scott Findley has received a $ 1.2 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration — a division of the Department of Health and Human Services — to bring telehealth capabilities to rural emergency departments across West Virginia .
“ Telemedicine offers the opportunity to provide acute , emergent subspecialty care in rural emergency departments ,” said Findley , an assistant professor in the WVU School of Medicine and director of the Rural Emergency Medical Institute . “ While rural communities can access subspecialty care through outreach clinics and scheduled appointments , this does not solve the problem of the lack of specialty care in the acute setting .”
Why do rural emergency departments have trouble recruiting specialists in the first place ? For one thing , the low patient count doesn ’ t justify the expense of keeping a specialist on staff 24 / 7 .
Another reason ? Specialists may worry their skills will atrophy there , according to Amelia Adcock , a member of the research team that directs WVU ’ s Center for Teleneurology and Telestroke .
“ Some emergency medicine physicians won ’ t go work in rural spots ,” she said . “ They may think , ‘ Oh , that ’ s a band-aid center . Nothing happens there .’”
14 • www . wvsma . org