Medical expert of the article
New publications
Medication for osteoarthrosis
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
All drugs used for osteoarthritis are conventionally divided into two groups:
- symptomatic (symptoms modifying antiosteoarthritis drugs - SMOADs),
- pathogenetic, or modifying disease (structure modifying or disease modifying antiosteoarthritis drugs - DMOADs).
Separate also slow and high-speed drugs.
The conditional nature of this division is due to the lack of knowledge about the mechanisms of action of drugs used in osteoarthritis. Virtually all drugs used in the treatment of patients with osteoarthritis (NSAIDs, depot-GCS, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, etc.), have a symptomatic effect, but differ in the rate of onset of the effect - fast-acting symptomatic drugs include non-narcotic analgesics, NSAIDs, depots -GKS and others, and to slow-acting - hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, etc.
Since at present no pathogenetic properties have been proven for any therapeutic agent, drugs that are often called "disease modifying" or "modifying the structure" (hyaluronic acid, chondroitin, glucosamine sulfate, etc.) can not be attributed to this group. However, this does not mean that the listed drugs, as well as other medicinal substances (for example, NSAIDs) do not possess such properties. At the same time, it is impossible to reduce the effect of such drugs solely to the symptomatic effect - in vivo and in vitro, their ability to favorably affect the metabolism of articular cartilage in patients with osteoarthritis is demonstrated.
It must be remembered that symptomatic preparations can have a pathogenetic effect and, conversely, pathogenetic drugs may have a symptomatic effect.
Thus, the modern classification of therapeutic agents for osteoarthritis can be represented as follows.
Classification of drugs used in osteoarthritis, developed by the Joint WHO Committee and ILAR
1. Symptomatic drugs (symptoms modifying antiosteoarthritis drugs - SMOADs):
- high-speed
- symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis (SYSADOA)
2. Preparations of pathogenetic action (disease modifying antiosteoarthritis drugs - DMOADs)
[