Dogs Cured of Arthritis Pain With Plants, Supplements

Dogs are guiding the way when it comes to progress on arthritis. New research from the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine indicates that arthritis pain can be relieved in our canine friends by mere plants and supplements. Two different formulas of this medicinal “cocktail” were developed at the university by Professor Éric Troncy, who worked with Pierre Haddad of the university’s Department of Pharmacology and were packaged into form of new age treats to test.

The first formula contained curcumin, devil’s claw, black current, Indian frankincense (Salai), willow bark, pineapple bromelain and chamomile, and was developed to treat arthritis-induced inflammation. The second included the same ingredients, plus dietary supplements such as omega 3, chondroitin sulfate and glutamine, and was formulated in the hope that it would promote the regeneration of articulations.

As noted in the November 10, 2014 news release, Troncy and his team worked with 32 dogs diagnosed with arthritis by X-ray and orthopedic exam; all weighed more than 20 kilograms. “Half the dogs received the first formula for four weeks and then the second formula for another four weeks. The other half, acting as the control, received a placebo. The outcomes were tested using three methods. Firstly, the dogs were filmed as they walked at a consistent speed over a special platform that captures the strength of each paw. Secondly, a special electronic collar recorded the dogs’ daily activities.…The researchers were able to identify an improvement by the fourth week of the trial.”

“After the eight week course, on average, the strength of the dogs receiving treatment had improved to the equivalent of a kilo of extra strength per paw, which is moreover. None of these dogs saw their health decline, unlike 35.8% of the dogs who were given the placebo, ” said Maxim Moreau, first author of the study, in the news release.

The collar tracking revealed that the dogs receiving treatment increased their daily activity from six hours to eight; those on the placebo were progressively less active.

“The model of evaluation that we have used is the best for predicting the efficacy of anti-arthritis treatments. We can therefore consider that clinical trials on humans would have a good chance of having positive outcomes, ” Troncy said.

Dr. Troncy told OTW, “The broad content of our message is that for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, a mixture of medicinal plants has demonstrated factual benefits in function, to relieve pain, in canine osteoarthritis. Moreover, the phytotherapeutical approach was not associated with any side effects, which is very encouraging. The dogs treated in this clinical trial were affected by natural osteoarthritis, a disease that our previous works have established is highly translatable to the human osteoarthritic condition. Indeed, most of the dogs were geriatric, with possible concurrency of other disorders, such as controlled kidney or gastrointestinal disease.”