| The Absolute TRUTH about NSAIDS and Glucosamine
Why you shouldn’t take them for long term arthritis
relief and what your alternatives are.
Grab a recent bottle of your favorite NSAIDS such as aspirin,
ibuprofen, naproxen, acetaminophen or even branded products
such as Tylenol? or Advil?. Check the label. Do you see how
it instructs you to take for NO LONGER than
10 days? This is a problem for people with arthritis, because
your pain in constant and only grows worse with time. How
are you supposed to follow the label and yet get pain relief
at the same time? There is a very good reason that warning
label of 10 days is FINALLY on the label. The New England
Journal of Medicine reports that “anti-inflammatory
drugs (prescription and over-the-counter, which include Advil®,
Motrin®, Aleve®, Ordus®, Aspirin, and over 20
others) alone cause over 16,500 deaths and over 103,000 hospitalizations
per year in the US”, according to a review article published
in the New England Journal of Medicine1. While
they may be effective in the short term, NSAIDS are not exactly
safe in the long term. Stomach bleeding, acute toxicity, liver
failure, fatalities…. not exactly something that is
worth a little pain reduction over a long period time. Fortunately,
there is a better solution when it comes to some of the effects
of osteoarthritis.
Keep in mind that with NSAIDS, you are only covering up your
pain. Your arthritis is free to progress and get worse. The
worst part of all – and this is the MOST important information
you will ever read about arthritis – NSAIDS have been
clinically shown to INCREASE and ACCELERATE articular damage,
inhibit chondroitin synthesis, and suppress proteoglycans
synthesis by the chondrocyte2. This is extremely
bad for your joints because while you are covering up your
pain, your osteoarthritis is getting worse and because you
are numbing yourself to your pain, you are not aware of how
your joints are deteriorating until it becomes so severe that
standard over the counter NSAIDS are no longer effective for
you.
Because glucosamine has been shown to be at least as effective
if not more (because it has less side effects compared to
NSAIDS), it is highly recommended for those suffering from
joint discomfort related to osteoarthritis. Glucosamine has
been shown to increase flexibility of the joints of those
suffering from osteoarthritis as well as to reduce discomfort
and inflammation. We all know that unfortunately osteoarthritis
(right now) has no cure, and left untreated, arthritis will
only get worse. With glucosamine, your joints now have a fighting
chance to rebuild cartilage.
In a nutshell, glucosamine gets to the root of the problem
and starts the repair process while NSAIDS only mask pain
and degrade your cartilage – making your osteoarthritis
worse! But hey, NSAIDS are a bit cheaper right? They do temporarily
reduce your pain right? Consider what else they can do. NSAIDS
also can kill you if you overdose on them. Acetaminophen alone
is one of the most common drugs associated with both intentional
and accidental poisoning. Don’t forget the 16,500 or
so deaths a year and many more hospitalizations to the common
“harmless” NSAID. It is time to change all of
that.
If you have osteoarthritis, we implore you to - if nothing
else - add glucosamine to your current daily life. Even if
you are taking NSAIDS now, you will likely notice that you
need to take less and less to reduce your pain. Eventually
it is possible that you may be able to eliminate your NSAID
dosages completely and continue with your healing glucosamine.
This could literally save your life.
So why haven't the pharmaceutical companies jumped on this
opportunity? One answer: money. If we cured arthritis, the
pharmaceutical companies would not be able to make money on
every new drug. Instead the pharmaceutical companies continue
to come up with patentable new drugs that are slightly better
than the last ones, but remember that the drugs you buy today
have been in development for over 10 years if not more. They
are not exactly cutting edge technology. Glucosamine is a
natural supplement and nobody can patent it. Its effectiveness
has been proven both in and out of the lab. Glucosamine costs
about a dollar a day rather than several hundred dollars a
month like some prescription drugs. Lastly, glucosamine has
helped hundreds of thousands of people get more active, get
healthier and get more from their lives.
Be sure to visit the Glucosamine
Product Guide for a review of commercially available glucosamine
products broken down by 9 different categories such as price per month, quality and type. Learn what the best products out
there are and how we ranked each.
References:
1. Wolfe MM, et. al. New England Journal of Medicine 1999;340(24):1888-99
2. American Journal of Medicine. 1987 Nov 20;83(5A):29-34
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