The word arthritis literally means joint inflammation ("arthr-" means joint; "-itis" means inflammation). There are many types of arthritis. Most forms of arthritis are chronic, which means they may last a lifetime.

Nearly 70 million Americans, or one in every four people, have arthritis. It affects people of all ages, but it most often comes on as a person gets older.

Arthritis usually causes stiffness, pain and fatigue. The severity varies from person to person, and even from day to day. In some people, only a few joints are affected and the impact may be small. In other people, the entire body system may be affected

Yes, ARTREX can be started immediately at diagnosis of your condition along with one of the NSAIDs such as Indocin, or a COX-2 inhibitor such as Celebrex. ARTREX acts along with these drugs to provide a potent and natural anti-inflammatory effect in the control of the disease condition and symptoms. Many of the patients taking these drugs with ARTREX, have been able to decrease and/or wean off the prescription medicines over a period of time, while continuing on ARTREX to give long term maintenance of mobility and pain control, without any side effects.

In some patients, minor incidence of heartburn is seen at the start of ARTREX. This is due to the presence of the active principles of ginger in the formulation, and is an indication of the potency of the product. Hence, it is advised to take ARTREX with food or a glass of milk. In the clinical studies conducted, the incidence of minor side effects such as nausea, abdominal pain, transient skin rash and insomnia were equally seen in both the treatment and placebo groups, hence not significant.

Early studies suggested that these supplements, derived from lobster and crab shells, may help relieve arthritis pain, possibly by encouraging cartilage growth. Due to this mechanism of action it usually takes 8-10 weeks to start seeing benefits with glucosamine. However, newer well controlled studies have shown little or no efficacy in relief of pain or inflammation with glucosamine or chondroitin. ARTREX has an anti-inflammatory* effect, and in clinical studies and in actual patient use it has shown to relieve pain as early as 2 weeks from initiation of treatment. Further, ARTREX does not alter the body's glucose or sugar metabolism (as glucosamine does). ARTREX can be taken in combination with these other supplements and no drug interaction is known to date.

Your joints may feel stiff and be hard to move. You may find that it's hard to do daily tasks you used to do easily, such as climbing stairs or opening a jar. Pain and stiffness may be more severe during certain times of the day or after you've done certain tasks. Some types of arthritis cause swelling, or inflammation. The skin over the joint may appear swollen and red, and feel hot to the touch. Some types of arthritis can also cause fatigue.

When your cartilage is damaged, either as a result of primary osteoarthritis or flowing from an injury (secondary osteoarthritis), you will suffer the consequences. Since cartilage protects the bones from coming into contact with one another, the opposite result is extremely painful. In a great many cases, it can lead to surgery. As your cartilage begins to lose its "fluid-like" capabilities, the process of osteoarthritis has begun. Whether the result of aging, genetics, overuse or injury some 40 million Americans suffer with this debilitating disease. Whether you suffer this disease or are trying to prevent it, every step that you can take to avoid the consequences is well worth it.