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Letters to the editor

Hyaluronic acid

I enjoyed reading Craig Bettenhausen’s article “Hyaluronic Acid, the Everywhere Biopolymer” (C&EN, May 3, 2021, page 26). It has much personal relevance for me. Within a few days of retirement in January 2019 from my position as a research chemist with the US Food and Drug Administration, I started feeling extreme pain in my right knee. X-rays revealed I had developed a moderate case of osteoarthritis in the knee just as I was starting my wonderful new life of retirement. Cortisone shots and physical therapy did nothing to ease the pain. In May of 2019, I received a course of three gel shots—hyaluronic acid—from my orthopedic specialist. The pain was reduced almost immediately after the first injection. After the third injection, the arthritic knee pain was gone. It is now almost 2 years later, and the right knee still feels very good, just an occasional twinge if I overexert it. I now take two capsules of a supplement containing hyaluronic acid, 100 mg total, every day. For me, hyaluronic acid is a miracle drug. Sincere thanks from me to the chemists, medical researchers, and doctors who have developed this treatment.

Joseph E. Jablonski
Twinsburg, Ohio.