Arthritis Supplement Promotes Longevity

An over-the-counter supplement commonly used by victims of arthritis has been recently associated with an increased life-span in mice, according to a new study.

The supplement in question, glucosamine, is often used by people suffering from arthritis to prevent join degradation and even help control sugar metabolism.

Now, according to a study recently published in Nature Communications, regular doses of glucosamine in an individual's diet might be able to help him or her live longer.

According to an a press release accompanying the latest study, work conducted by researcher Michael Ristow back in 2007 show that too much nutritive sugar shortens the lifespan of roundworms -- an organism commonly used in research investigating ageing.

Knowing that glucosamine can help reduce the metabolism of nutritive sugars, Rostow theorized that the supplement can help preserve and even increase the natural lifespan or an organism.

To determine if this theory was correct, Ristow lead a new team of researchers in this most recent study.

According to the study, the team gave regular doses of glucosamine to 100 week old mice -- the equivalent to a 65 year old human. A control group of other 100 week old mice were not given the supplement. In a follow-up analysis, the researchers were able to determine that on-average the mice from the glucosamine group lived 10 percent longer than the control group.

Predictably, the researchers also found that glucosamine also improved the glucose metabolism of the elderly mice, helping protect them from diabetes and verifying the metabolism control benefits past experts have claimed were associated with the supplement.

Of course, the authors of the study write that more research will be needed to determine if the supplement will have the same effects in humans.

The study was published in Nature Communications on April 8.