Dr. Weeks’ Comment: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its a duck. But your organic meal with nutrient dense seeds is a medical food only if you spend millions to certify it as such. Primus Pharmaceuticals did just that and their food, Flavocoxid, is a proprietary blend containing flavonoids, baicalin (a benzodiazepine modulator), and catechin (a flavan found in tea). It acts as a drug because it is an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase (COX)-1, COX-2 enzymes, and 5-lipoxyenase enzyme activity. It’s also a potent antioxidant that reduces production of inflammatory molecules derived from oxidation of preinflammatory fatty acid molecules. Insurance is not paying for it yet… but the trend is away from toxic drugs with their debilitating side effects and towards epigenetics and healthy eating. This is the future. Don’t wait for your insurance company to reimburse you in part for a prescription medical food. Start now by eating organic non-GMO glyphosate free seeds !
PS this just in – the medical food has liver toxicity side effects!
“…Flavocoxid is a proprietary mixture of molecules extracted from plants and it is unclear which component(s) might be responsible for liver injury. The mixture includes extracts from Scutellaria baicalensis (skullcap, containing the phytochemical baicalin) and Acacia catechu(catechin)), both of which have been implicated in causing idiosyncratic acute liver injury, but the mechanism is unknown…”
Oops! Best to stay with your heathy meal.
Medical Food May Help Control Inflammatory Pain
SAN DIEGO ”” When used as part of the clinical management of chronic inflammatory pain, Flavocoxid (Limbrel, Primus Pharmaceuticals), a medical food, appears to reduce pain without the need to increase opioid dosing, new research suggests.
“We found that about 50% of patients in total ”” and also in the elderly ”” reported their pain improved at 6 months,” so they were either much better (≥3-point increase on a 10-point visual analog scale [VAS]) or better (1- to 2-point increase), study author Lata Handiwala, PharmD, a consultant to Augur Health, an agency engaged by Primus Pharmaceuticals, told Medscape Medical News.
Dr Lata Handiwala
The study was presented here at the Academy of Integrative Pain Management (AIPM) 28th Annual Meeting.
Need for Opioid Alternatives
There’s a growing need for alternatives to opioids in the management of pain, especially among patients aged 65 years and older, a population that has multiple comorbidities and is at increased risk for polypharmacy.
Flavocoxid is a proprietary blend containing flavonoids, baicalin, and catechin. It acts as a balanced inhibitor of cyclooxygenase (COX)-1, COX-2 enzymes, and 5-lipoxyenase enzyme activity. It’s also a potent antioxidant that reduces production of inflammatory molecules derived from oxidation of preinflammatory fatty acid molecules.
“It’s the active ingredient in a medical food that is available only through prescription,” said Dr Handiwala. The product, which in the study was used in pill form, has achieved GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status, a category of safety recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration, she added.
The analysis was a retrospective chart review of 108 patients, mean age 77 years at the Mays and Schnapp Pain Clinic, in Memphis, Tennessee. About 70% of the study subjects were elderly (65 years or older).
Among the elderly patients, the mean number of comorbidities was five. These included hypertension, arthritis, depression, and hypercholesterolemia. On average, these patients were taking about 10 prescription medications.
In the total population, 70% were taking opioids at baseline. This percentage was 73% among the elderly.
Using the VAS, study participants rated their pain at 6 months compared to baseline. Their pain was categorized as “much better” (an increase of 3 or more points), “better” (1- to 2-point increase), no change, “worse” (1- to 2-point decrease), or “much worse” (a decrease of 3 or more points) compared with baseline.
After 6 months, 25% of patients overall indicated that their pain was “much better” and 22% were “better.” Pain scores did not change for 20% of patients.
Improvements in pain were “slightly better” in the elderly, said Dr Handiwala. In this group, pain was rated as “much better” for about 27% and “better” for 24%, while there was no change in 20%.