How Can Arthritis Be Treated?

My elderly father,whom I am caring for was recently taken off of what he calls his arthritis meds by his dr who said that particular medication was hard on his heart. Sure enough, he had been having chest pains for a while and now they are gone. ( he has has a quadruple bypass years ago and also has a pacemaker but other than that he is in wonderful health. In the past few weeks he is so stiff he can barely get out of bed and anytime he sits down he puts a heating pad on his joints. I told him I thought he should be using ice for inflammation but he doesn t believe he. My question is, is there an arthritis med on the market that he can ask his dr to put him on that does not gave negative effects on a person s heart? Sheila Long