Guest Post for ProLabs Pets by Dr. Joel the PetVet
While the issues of pain and pain management have always been a mainstay of concern for physicians and their patients, it wasn’t until 2003 and the organization of The International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM), that any real focus was placed on promoting, enhancing and advancing pain management in animals.
IVAPM is now a unique multi-disciplinary organization dedicated to advancing the field of pain management in animals. This multi-disciplinary organization actively works to gain and promote the knowledge related to the biology and clinical treatment of pain in animals. The Academy continues to seek to improve the standard of care for treating animals in pain by developing guidelines of care, providing continuing education, promoting humane and ethical research in animal pain and establishing credentialing of veterinary specialists in the area of animal pain management.
Mary Ellen Goldberg, BS, LVT, CVT, SRA, has been involved in veterinary medicine for over 33 years, and during that time, she has seen “pain management undergo a complete about face”. Intensely involved in analgesia work, Mary Ellen is currently the Executive Secretary and Co-editor of the IVAPM Newsletter and a member of the Examination Committee; she is a member of the American Academy of Pain Management (Human) and the American Society of Pain Educators.
Here is an excerpt, below, from remarkable review that Mary Ellen wrote for the IVAPM members:
“Pain management and osteoarthritis are not new topics, coexisting in discussions for decades. … When I look back on my ownership of pets, I can’t believe how I had certain signs and symptoms “staring me in the face”: As my dogs aged, I remember thinking they were old and stiff and accepted the conventional wisdom that this was a normal developmental process. I chastise myself now for not asking ‘Why’? Maybe because I, too, am now old and stiff, this has become a topic near and dear to my heart.
I attended a meeting for a newly introduced product, FLEX Rx, marketed by ProLabs®Ltd., a subsidiary of AgriLabs®Ltd. … FLEX Rx is a combination of catechin extracts from Scutellaria baicalensis and Acacia catechua. With a unique mode of action that inhibits 5-Lipoxygenase (5-LOX) enzymatic metabolism and evenly suppresses Cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and COX-2), it manages joint health without adverse effects. No other product on the market does both.
Osteoarthritis is sustained by the metabolism of arachidonic acid (AA). It is caused by injury or repetitive use and is not necessarily a disease caused by aging. AA inputs occur from damage to the joint and diets, particularly those containing corn. When AA can no longer synthesize through the COX route, it shunts to the 5-LOX pathway, inducing inflammatory leukotrienes.
FLEX Rx does not completely shut down COX-1 and COX-2 because there are certain benefits to these enzymes. FLEX Rx produces a balanced COX suppression, allowing the positive effects to occur while removing the negative ones. At the same time, FLEX Rx inhibits the negative effects of 5-LOX: pain and inflammation. It is the latter that causes the destruction of tissue.
Anybody who uses them is well aware of the problems that can occur from long term use of NSAIDS: gastric ulceration, peripheral edema, elevated systolic blood pressure (BP), renal insufficiency and hypertension with chronic COX-1 inhibition.
Here is the beauty of FLEX Rx:
- It has no side effects with fewer adverse effects than placebo in efficacy studies.
- It has been clinically proven to work faster than Cosequin DS (glucosamine/chondroitin sulfate).
- It can be safely combined with NSAIDS for a period of time; toxicology studies showed no resultant GI ulceration.
FLEX Rx is a liver-flavored tablet that comes in a bottle of 60 chewable tablets. The active ingredients in FLEX Rx are currently available on the human market (LimbrelTM) for “the clinical dietary management of the metabolic processes of osteoarthritis (OA).”
After attending the ProLabs meeting, I strongly recommend using FLEX Rx for joint health in dogs. FLEX Rx is available at your neighborhood or online retailer. For questions about using it for your dog contact: Joel Ehrenzweig, DVM at drjoel@prolabspets.com or 1-866-637-7716.
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