The popular supplement glucosamine, which many people use for joint health, is linked to faster progression of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a newly published study.

Glucosamine is often taken for pain relief in individuals with various forms of arthritis. However, studies show it’s ineffective and just another useless supplement pushed by the supplement industry.

This post will examine the new data along with the potential mechanism that links glucosamine to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD).

Glucosamine and Alzheimer’s disease paper

In a paper published on 9 June 2026 in Nature Metabolism, senior investigator Ramon Sun, PhD, Director, Center for Advanced Spatial Biomolecule Research and Associate Director, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, and colleagues identified more than 24,000 patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and nearly 42,000 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). About 8% of patients in both cohorts reported taking glucosamine.

Here are the key results:

• After adjustment for age, sex, and demographic variables, glucosamine use was associated with a 25% higher likelihood of progression from MCI to dementia over 5 years.
• Among patients with ADRD, taking the supplement was associated with a 25% increased risk for mortality at 10 years.

Hyperglycosylation — the abnormal or excessive addition of sugar molecules (glycans) to proteins or lipids, often affects their function, stability, and interactions — may be an active contributor to AD progression. Hyperglycosylation may be caused by glucosamine.

In human AD brain tissue, the researchers observed evidence of increased glycan biosynthesis and widespread hyperglycosylation in both gray and white matter.

In AD mice, suppressing glycosylation enzymes reduced cognitive deficits. On the other hand, oral glucosamine supplementation exacerbated behavioral impairments, findings that the authors said support a causal role for glycan dysregulation in disease severity.

Summary

This study makes two important observations:

• Individuals who consume have a higher risk of developing ADRD, especially if they have mild cognitive impairment.
• The researchers provide a mechanism that may show how glucosamine supplementation leads to glycosylation, leading to ADRD.

It’s important to note that this observational study cannot establish causality. For example, individuals who take glucosamine may be more at risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias as a result of other health conditions. A double-blind clinical trial is necessary to establish causality.

However, the researchers provide a potential mechanism as to why the supplement may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, so this bears watching.

Importantly, there is just no evidence that glucosamine has any clinical benefit, at least for joint pain and health, so the risks of dementia far exceed the lack of benefits. I will definitely avoid it.

Citations

• Hawkinson TR, Liu Z, Ribas RA, Medina T, Nielsen RS, Clarke HA, Ma X, Mueller AC, Plasencia AF, Sheer AL, Simpson ST, Soto CM, Sudderth J, Cai F, Cantrell AR, Colpaert MG, Shedlock CJ, Wu L, Young LEA, Kooser DD, Chen L, Ryan AM, Quinones S, Son J, Azadi P, Deberardinis RJ, Prokop S, Allison D, Yang S, Chen H, Huang Y, He X, Alonge KM, Guo J, Guo Y, Bian J, Vander Kooi CW, Gentry MS, Sun RC. Hyperglycosylation is a metabolic driver of Alzheimer’s disease. Nat Metab. 2026 Jun;8(6):1410-1425. doi: 10.1038/s42255-026-01538-4. Epub 2026 Jun 9. PMID: 42265388; PMCID: PMC13303091.
• Wandel S, Jüni P, Tendal B, Nüesch E, Villiger PM, Welton NJ, Reichenbach S, Trelle S. Effects of glucosamine, chondroitin, or placebo in patients with osteoarthritis of hip or knee: network meta-analysis. BMJ. 2010 Sep 16;341:c4675. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c4675. Review. PubMed PMID: 20847017; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2941572.

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