CLEARWATER, Fla.—University of South Florida researchers found long-term vitamin C supplementation can help prevent knee osteoarthritis (OA), according to results published online ahead of print on Aug. in the Public Health Nutrition journal.
The prospective cohort study involved 1,023 male and femal subjects from the Clearwater Osteoarthritis Study (COS, 1988 to present) who were 40 years of age or older—some had self-reported history of vitamin C supplementation, some did not; some had radiographic knee OA at baseline, some did not. The subjects underwent biennial, sequential knee radiographs using the Kellgren-Lawrence ordinal scale to determine evidence of incident radiographic knee OA and progression of the disease.
According to the results, those without baseline knee OA who self-reported vitamin C supplement usage were 11-percent less likely to develop knee OA than were those who self-reported no vitamin C supplement usage. In subjects who had knee OA at the trial beginning, vitamin C supplement usage was not associated with OA progression. The scientists reported finding no evidence to support a protective role of vitamin C in the progression of knee OA. However, they noted the study data, after controlling for confounding variables, suggest vitamin C supplementation may be beneficial in preventing incident knee OA. “Given the massive public health burden of OA,” they wrote, “the use of a simple, widely available and inexpensive supplement to potentially reduce the impact of this disease merits further consideration.”
