70 million Americans have arthritis; this medical estimate has been released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Arthritis refers to the inflammation of joints. Joints refer to parts of the human body, where two bones meet.

You have arthritis; if you suffer regularly from joint pain, stiffness, and/or inflammation of joints. For the arthritis sufferer will feel pain in his or her joints, as well as experience, heat, swelling and redness. Plus the arthritis suffer will experience these pains on a recurring basis. At its most severe, arthritis can be debilitating.

This category of drugs that deal with the relief of arthritis, are called NSAIDs or Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. But control of at least 100 different kinds of arthritis is underway with the improved medication. NSAIDs are specially indicated for the inflammation of arthritis and other body tissue. Examples of NSAIDs are aspirin tablets, COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitors.

COX 2 inhibitors work by inhibiting or blocking the body’s ability to produce chemical messengers such as prostaglandins. When NSAIDs do it successfully, they decrease the inflammation of joints of arthritis suffers. Cox-2 inhibitors are the newest arthritis drugs available on the market today. How do they work? The body produces enzymes called Cox-2. These enzymes produce the chemical messengers, which bring on the inflammation of the joints. In essence, the NSAID COX 2 inhibitor drugs work to block the production of the COX-2 enzyme.

Over 33 million Americans take NSAID of which is the newest COX 2 inhibitors drug. If you suffer from arthritis and take this particular class of drugs, it’s vitally important for you to know the serious health issues associated from use of medications such as COX 2 inhibitors.

By using NSAIDs, the class of drugs to which COX 2 inhibitors belong to, patients are liable to suffer:

Episodes of Heartburn
Experience abdominal pains
Experience diarrhea, bloating and upset stomach

The probability of developing ulcers in one’s stomach increases with prolonged use of NSAIDs, the drug to which COX 2 inhibitors belongs. The dangers increase, for the uninformed arthritis sufferer, due to the possible complications brought by NSAIDs like COX 2 inhibitors.

The arthritis sufferer could experience internal bleeding of his or her stomach and not know that this is happening. By which time the pain is severe and the ill effects are irreversible. The possibility of serious health complications increases with the age of the patient. And of this, 47.8% are aged 65 years and above. This means around 15.7 million arthritis sufferers may develop stomach ulcers and perforation, due to the use of NSAID the class of drugs to which Cox 2 inhibitors fall under.

Do you know any family members or friends who suffer from arthritis? Or do you yourself have arthritis? If you say yes to either of these two questions, then you should take time to study the alternatives present for arthritis medication. That way, you don’t alleviate the pains of arthritis, at the expense of contracting another serious disease.

Here was Storm helping us train Bowdie in May, 2005

Our Granddaughter and Bowdie at the lake in June, 2005