People who take one of Australia's most popular health supplements for osteoarthritis have been urged to stop taking the pills, with strong new evidence showing it doesn't help symptoms and one study revealing hundreds of people have been harmed by it.

Glucosamine is a naturally occurring sugar that our bodies use to make new cartilage. But the scientific evidence on whether taking it as a supplement helps people with osteoarthritis has long been inconsistent and unclear.

“Glucosamine is not helpful, and can be harmful,” says Professor David Hunter from the Institute of Bone and Joint Research. Credit:Tanya Macheda

Now, a raft of new, high-quality studies have found glucosamine does not help people with osteoarthritis.

In October the American College of Rheumatology updated its guidelines to “strongly recommend against” using glucosamine for osteoarthritis.