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Article: Life after COX-2: life without the super-aspirins has proved painful for patients with arthritis and other inflammatory conditions, but new meds will be just as effective with far fewer side effects.(News Feature)
- Article from:
- Chemistry and Industry
- Article date:
- January 14, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Society of Chemical Industry. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The near total demise of the COX-2 inhibitor class of drugs has left a big hole in the list of treatment options for patients with arthritis. While COX-2 drugs have no effect on the ultimate progress of disease, they do offer significant pain relief. And, importantly, they were specifically designed to avoid the significant gastrointestinal side-effects of older non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, ibuprofen and diclofenac. They target just COX-2, leaving COX-1, which is gastroprotective, alone thereby limiting the chances of serious problems such as stomach ulcers. However, it has recently come to light that many of these newer drugs increase ...