The most common reasons is that other treatments (weight loss, exercise/physical therapy, addictive medicines, and even injections) either failed or didn’t work fast enough to relieve the chronic pain.
Back in the early 90’s, those involved with MD’s Choice predicted a significant increase in joint related problems and surgeries in the human market, and the lack of effective treatments that actually HELPED A BODY ADDRESS THE PROBLEM SCIENTIFICALLY, without 'blocking pain' (or other symptoms); which is exactly why Arthrosamine (a premiere joint supplement) was initially developed.
It used to be that only serious injuries, serious debilitating problems, would ‘get’ joint replacements… and then, only if surgery was really warranted, or all other types of rational treatment failed. So, how can a desire to ‘ethically practice medicine and help people’ turn into the quick scripts for pain killers and steroids, the over use of either, abuse of either, or some ‘ingredient of the month’ club? Until surgery or death… it seems.
That might be a pessimistic outlook, but look at the numbers. These last few decades it really how many doctors have chosen to treat chronic knee and hip pain, especially in the human market.
In 2010, total knee replacement was the most frequently performed inpatient procedure on adults aged 45 and over. In the 11-year period from 2000 through 2010, an estimated 5.2 million total knee replacements were performed. Adults aged 45 and over comprised 98.1% of those surgeries. This report uses data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) to present trends in the rate of hospitalizations for total knee replacement, mean age at hospitalization, and discharge status for inpatients aged 45 and over from 2000 through 2010.
The numbers in the human market demonstrate the ‘surgery band-wagon,’ according to the NCHS Data Brief No. 210, August 2015
~ Key findings:
• The rate of total knee replacements increased for both men (86%) and women (99%) aged 45 and over from 2000 through 2010.
• For both 2000 and 2010, women had a higher rate of total knee replacement (33.0 and 65.5 per 10,000 population, respectively) than men (24.3 and 45.3 per 10,000, respectively).
• The mean age of total knee replacement decreased from 2000 through 2010 for both men and women aged 45 and over.
• Higher percentages of men and women aged 45 and over who were hospitalized for total knee replacement were discharged home in 2010 (69.8% and 54.1%) than in 2000 (53.5% and 40.8%).
• In both 2000 and 2010, a lower percentage of women aged 45 and over (40.8% and 54.1%, respectively) were discharged home after total knee replacement than men aged 45 and over (53.5% and 69.8%, respectively).
Following knee surgery, most adults were discharged home, but the percentage was lower for women in both 2000 and 2010 (40.8% and 54.1%, respectively) than for men (53.5% and 69.8%). More women than men were discharged to a long-term care facility compared with the men, the data show.
NCHS Data Brief No. 210. Published online September 2, 2015. Full text
"The goal of knee replacement is to relieve pain, improve quality of life, and maintain or improve knee function. The procedure is performed on people of all ages, with the exception of children, whose bones are still growing. It is important to have significant pain and/or disability prior to considering this procedure, because the replacement parts are likely to break down over time (depending on continued use, abuse, and other health factors). Approximately 700,000 knee replacement procedures are performed annually in the US on human beings. This number is projected to increase to 3.48 million procedures per year by 2030 [1]."
In general, most animal joint surgeries last the rest of the life of the animal… for that joint, and only happen if there is no other viable option.
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Most doctors that have any actual product in their clinic stock some type of oral joint supplement. However, if you look closely at the ingredients listed, (if it’s not MD’s Choice’s products) odds are it contains glucosamine HCl & chondroitin ingredients, maybe even some herbal remedies. Those doctors really need to read the GAIT Study, and speak with one of the doctors that do actively use the MD's Choice products.
Few veterinarians that understand herbs are really ‘plant derived drugs’ will actively stock or promote products with herbs, knowing there are some very real issues and side effects.
Despite what store shelves are filled with, and contrary to what some marketers claim, those type of ingredients are NOT using the best types, forms, or options.
They weren’t paying attention to the absorption, or the years of science on ingredients, like the mineral oxides, or glucosamine hcl, because THOSE TYPE/FORMS of nutrients have been repeatedly proven to be inefficient, with at least 50 to 90% being wasted (passing through the system).
Nearly 60 years of scientific studies prove the vast majority of glucosamine hcl merely passes through the mammal’s body unused. Also, it has been scientifically proven to be completely unstable in liquid form.
The doctors that formulated the MD's Choice products knew all this back in the 90’s! That was one of the prime reasons they decided to develop some formulas that actually worked the right way, a safe way, without endangering bodies by abusing pain killers, over using blockers, or misusing symptom inhibitors. These are at the foundation that makes MD’s Choice different from all other supplement companies.
Those are things most intelligent, optimistic students and ‘new’ doctors (human or animal), with a fresh outlook and strong learning in the field of NUTRITION, pondered. Many Veterinarians have learned that MD’s Choice’s joint supplements are a valid and effective addition to their treatment process… helping to avoid surgery in many cases, or at least delay it as necessary. Plus, they KNOW using the product before, during, and after the surgery WILL ACTUALLY HELP speed up healing.
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So, what does any good gung-ho, pie in the sky, science types do?
• clearly define the problem
• list potential solutions
• determine why those solutions might and might not work,
• see what has ALREADY been done,
• talk to others (gathering information),
• test (research),
• talk (banter & brain shares),
• test (in a different way, humanely, on a different species),
• try (test subjects)… continue evaluating,
• research more,
• adapt, improve, test more...
• creating REAL SOLUTIONS!
Watching the statistics, safety, and observable results all along the way.
Over the next couple years, this group of professionals started focusing mostly on areas they believed they could actually and positively impact:
1. broad-spectrum general health (Complete Formulas),
2. joint health (Arthrosamine & Gluquestrian),
3. bone & hormonal support (Mag-Cal Plus), and
4. digestion (GI Support).
5. reproduction (the reproductive studies didn’t start until about 2001, which is a whole other story in itself)
Divide and conquer. The next step was to dig even deeper on the focused product choices, because they didn’t want to recreate the wheel. If something was already out there, just not on pharmacy or store shelves, they wanted to know about it. If something was tried and failed in some research or science somewhere in the world, they wanted to know why… so they could learn from that other experience, that other knowledge & research, and work to create the absolute best product in their class!
They focused, and dug even deeper at why and how somethings worked, as well as what didn’t and why.
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Simple start, which only led to more questions.
Then to formulating some complex solutions… and some new products they could be proud of, and could have an ethical Results Based Guarantee people. Making it a little easier to get through all the noise, and compete with established supplement companies with far deeper pockets. The challenge was to get the word out, get people talking, sharing, and telling their family & friends about our effective products. Now, over twenty years later, it’s our dedicated customers that know our products have helped them, their pets and family, which has allowed us to remain in business. For those people we will always be grateful!
There were the competitors that spent major bucks (often hundreds of thousands to millions) buying celebrities and sponsoring some event… like the Winter Equestrian Challenge, ROLEX, HITS, some Eventing competitions… or dog shows… making it nearly impossible for us to be there (merely because we had an effective competing product). Those are all games our company refused to play, because it would have meant raising our price, reducing the quantity, or taking short cuts on the quality. All things against our fundamental goals… and ethical commitment to the truth, science, and the end-users that get our product.
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Proper Dosing is important to us, and dosing can vary, depending on a few individual factors: age, weight, height, location (of problem), severity, other medication & medically recommended treatment, goals, and care. If the use is helping supplement nutritional needs, or the problems are moderate, effective dosing is on the label. However, IF there are more serious issues, and pain/or is evident, PLEASE CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR or CALL US FOR OPTIMUM DOSING.