Posted 8/22/2005 12:24 PM (GMT 0)
NCOA survey results A new national survey released by NCOA revealed that 43% of Osteoarthritis patients who previously used prescription medication, have stopped using them.
The National Council on the Aging recently published the results from a survey of 1,000 adults who were previously diagnosed with OA (osteoarthritis). Comparing the results with a similar NCOA survey from 2004 revealed many changes in the treatment trends of OA sufferers. Patients age 50-65 reported a drastic increase in their pursuit of non-operative and alternative treatment options. A surprising number of patients reported that they discontinued the use of prescription medication entirely.
Pharmaceutical industry pundits may argue that these changes are an indirect result of the recent FDA report that found COX-2 inhibitors to be unsafe. Physicians were left with few effective medications for the treatment of arthritis. Its possible that a majority of the 43% who quit using medication had no other choice because COX-2 inhibitors were the only treatment that worked. They had to seek alternative options in the hope of finding some relief from the pain and stiffness associated with OA. As a result, pharmaceutical companies have lost a sizable piece of the market to medical alternatives like herbs, nutritional supplements, acupuncture, relaxation techniques and the like. Which could be why they are considering alternative approaches to developing safe prescription medications.
A new approach that is attracting a lot of attention from physicians is called Rx Medical Nutrition. This approach attempts to safely manage the nutritional requirements of OA patients with extremely high levels of natural food-based ingredients. Research has already been conducted to see if Rx Medical Nutrition is a safe and effective approach to treating OA. Both animal studies and human clinical trials demonstrated a significant reduction of pain and stiffness and an increase in joint mobility. Animals showed no significant side effects even when given doses 20 times the equivalent human dose. Humans reported no significant side effects as well. The conclusive results from all the studies prove that the resulting prescription medication is a safe and effective treatment for OA sufferers.
One company has already released a prescription medication (Limbrel) that was formulated using the Rx Medical Nutrition approach. It contains a proprietary blend of nutrients to safely meet the distinctive nutritional requirements of patients with OA. It is classified by the FDA as a Medical Food product and is generally recognized as safe. It is not for use by children under the age of 18 or women who are pregnant or nursing. The best part is that there are no side affects other than those associated with an allergic reaction.
The Rx Medical Nutrition approach looks to be a viable alternative to the traditional pharmaceutical methods. Time will tell if the resulting OA medication will provide the kind of relief that patients desire. One thing is for certain, thousands of OA sufferers would welcome the opportunity to find a new way to relieve their symptoms.
NCOA survey results http://www.ncoa.org/content.cfm?sectionid=61&detail=1023