January 2005 | Whole Health
Alternatives to Vioxx & Other COX-2 Inhibitors
by Neil E. Levin, CCN
They’re called “COX-2 inhibitor” drugs and are the fifth largest selling drugs in North America. One brand, Vioxx, was yanked off the market this fall by its maker, Merck Pharmaceuticals, because users in a long-term study were doubling their risk of heart attacks. The New England Journal of Medicine also questioned whether any COX-2 inhibitor drug is safe and Bextra by Pfizer has recently been brought under scrutiny.
COX-2 inhibitors are used to block an enzyme, cycooxygenase-2, that triggers the pain caused by inflammation in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Over all, this class of drugs gained popularity because it’s gentler on the stomach than the long-prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs called “NSAIDS” (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) — such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen and aspirin. NSAIDs commonly cause severe, painful digestive-tract problems and are blamed for about 16,000 deaths, 100,000 hospitalizations and 53 percent of all liver failures in the U.S. annually. NSAIDS also block the beneficial enzyme “COX-1”, which protects the stomach lining.
There are dietary supplements that can help control the inflammatory COX-2 enzyme without blocking the beneficial COX-1 enzyme. Plus, these supplements will also block another inflammatory enzyme, 5-LOX, that’s not affected by many of the pain-relief drugs.
SAM-e, a dietary supplement, provided the same level of functional knee health as COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex in a study done by the University of California.
Use anti-inflammatory spices and herbs: Boswellia, ginger, turmeric, holy basil, green tea extract, resveratrol and bromelain. Some herbal complexes with these ingredients include: Kal’s COX-2 Control Body Comfort, New Chapter’s Zyflamend, Now Food’s D-Flame and Source Naturals’ Inflama-Rest. These gentle formulas may not work as quickly as drugs, but are safe enough to take indefinitely. If you wish to switch from drugs to natural therapies, share this info with your health practitioner.
Neil Levin is a Certified Clinical Nutritionist and president of Nutrition for Optimal Health Association (www.nutrition4health.org). He is an industry consultant on dietary supplement formulations.
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