2.3. Study Design
knee pain
This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups, namely, an MSM consumption group and a placebo control group, with a 1:1 ratio. The details of this study were explained, and written informed consent was obtained from all participants. Both groups of participants took 10 tablets per day, five tablets each at breakfast and dinner for 12 weeks. The dominant ingredient of the tablets of the MSM consumption group was 200 mg MSM per tablet and that of the placebo control group was the same amount of lactose. Lactose was adopted as a placebo, referring to a clinical trial of supplement intake for knee pain [This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The trial protocol and any amendments were approved by the ethics committee of the Takara Clinic, Medical Corporation Seishinkai (approval number: 2204-00145-0004-0E-TC), and statistical analysis was performed by Ortho Medico. This trial has been registered in the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000044258).