As orthopedic surgeon subspecializing in hip and knee joint replacement, I became frustrated with the medications avalable for the treatment of arthritis. One of seven surgeons at the hendersonville Orthopedic associates caring for people in Henderson and transylvana Counties in North Carolina, Iwanted to add another weapon to aur arsenal for treating osteoarthritis.I was also interested in finding something that slowed down the progression of the disease, ratherr than just relieved pain.Physicians initially believed that  the nonsteroidal antiinflamatory medications woul slow the progresion of osteoarthritis. Over the years, however, our experiences and more and more research showed that this is probably not the case. It seemed that none of the medications I had previously believed in truly modified the dies