Biresh Roy
CEO, AH Consumer Healthcare Ltd. (FlexiSEQ)
Pain management for osteoarthritis — a progressive joint condition — isn’t enough. What’s also needed is a treatment that targets its underlying causes.
Biresh Roy, CEO at AH Consumer Healthcare, which markets FlexiSEQ, outlines the symptoms of osteoarthritis — and how patients can find both pain relief and improved joint mobility
What is osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is a condition that causes a person’s joints to become inflamed, painful and stiff, and its effects can be exacerbated by cold weather. It can affect any joint, but commonly is found in the knees, hips, shoulders and small joints in the hands. It’s mainly associated with ageing — typical onset is around the age of 55 onwards — but it can affect younger people regularly taking joint impact exercise like running. It’s also linked to obesity and joint trauma.
What’s the impact on the patient and those around them?
It can be extremely debilitating, reducing mobility, affecting a person’s independence and impacting quality of life. If someone can’t go out and stays at home thinking about their pain, particularly in the darker evenings, it can induce a degree of depression. Constant pain can also affect sleep, which causes irritability and begins to impact the people around them.
How common is it?
According to Arthritis UK, there are more than 10 million people in the UK living with arthritis. An estimated nine million of those have osteoarthritis.
What causes it?
With osteoarthritis, the cartilage in the joint — which stops two bone surfaces from rubbing together — begins to wear thin or is worn away completely. Meanwhile, lubricating molecules in the synovial fluid — which bathes the cartilage to make movement even smoother — become depleted. The resulting friction from joint movement can cause pain, even when resting.
Osteoarthritis is a condition that causes a person’s joints to become inflamed,
painful and stiff, and its effects can be exacerbated by cold weather.
What’s the treatment for it?
Unfortunately, there’s no cure because joint deterioration, by its nature, is progressive. Anti-inflammatories and opioids are used to manage pain but only provide temporary relief. What’s needed is a treatment that targets the underlying causes as well as symptoms. The FlexiSEQ range comprises two drug-free gels designed to do just that. Because of their formulations, they’re able to lubricate the joint so that it moves more freely, causing less friction and less pain. We recommend these be used as part of an overall therapy together with lifestyle changes.
What lifestyle changes can help?
Regular non-high impact exercise, such as cycling, walking and swimming, and even gardening, can help burn calories and strengthen the muscles around the affected joint. Make sure your diet is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon. Take ginger and turmeric, which have naturally anti-inflammatory properties. And eat superfoods such as broccoli, which contain calcium, vitamins C and K, and sulforaphane — which can slow down joint deterioration.
