What is "celecoxib"

n. A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used in the treatment of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, acute pain, painful menstruation and menstrual symptoms, and to reduce numbers of colon and rectum polyps in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis.

n. a Cox-2 inhibitor (trade name Celebrex) that relieves pain without harming the digestive tract [syn: Celebrex]

Celecoxib is a COX-2 selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It is used to treat the pain and inflammation of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, acute pain in adults, painful menstruation, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in people two years or older.

Side effects include a 37% increase in incidence of major vascular events, which include nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or death from a blood vessel-related cause. Additionally, an 81% increase in incidence of upper gastrointestinal complications occurs, which include perforations, obstructions, or gastrointestinal bleeding as in all NSAIDs. In July 2015 the FDA strengthened the warning that non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can cause heart attacks or strokes.

It is marketed by Pfizer under the brand names Celebrex and Celebra for arthritis and Onsenal for polyps. Celecoxib is available by prescription in capsule form. In spite of the American Heart Association warning that in people at high risk for heart disease should only use celecoxib if there are not other possible treatments and that celecoxib costs about five times more than acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or naproxen — which are equally effective for pain relief, 11 million prescriptions of celebrex are filled each year. Celebrex was one of Pfizer’s "best-selling drugs, amounting to more than $2.5 billion in sales [by 2012], and was prescribed to 2.4 million" people in 2011. By 2012, 33 million Americans had taken Celebrex. As of 2015 the cost for a typical month of medication in the United States is more than $200.