Non Steroidal anti-inflamatory drugs (NSAID) are painkilling drugs with analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. They are used to reduce pain, fever and inflammation. People have taken NSAIDs to obtain temporary relief from pain for decades, and continue to do so - usually without knowing, or being told, just how harmful they can be to our health.
Your doctor will often prescribe these drugs for many conditions, including arthritis, rheumatism, sciatica, back pain, headache, migraine, sprains, strains, dental pain, post-operative pain, menstrual pain, and to reduce temperature. And sometimes, people will get stuck on these drugs for many years as conventional medicine often has nothing else to offer. And we take them without knowing the harm that they can do to us.
Moreover, NSAID painkillers are readily available as 'over-the-counter' (OTC) drugs that most people widely considered to be safe to use. They included many of the commonest painkillers, such as Aspirin, Ibuprofen and Paracetomol. Indeed, their ready availability makes them not only popular, but masks the many important contra-indications to taking them!
However, the fact that these drugs are common and well-known does not make them safe. Far from it. It is now well established that that they cause gastro-intestinal bleeding, renal problems, and increase the risk of heart problems. Most of the major damage caused relates to their effects on the stomach and bowels (Abdominal bleedings, pain, diarrhea, and stomach ulceration. It is estimated that about 10%-50% of people are unable to tolerate NSAID treatment because of their side effects, and that some 15% of people on long-term NSAID treatment develop a peptic ulcers.
Common adverse reactions include Headache, Nausea, Diarrhea, Constipation, Excess gas, Extreme weakness and fatigue,
More serious adverse reactions to NSAID drugs include muscle cramps, numbness and tingling, abdominal cramps, heartburn, indigestion, rapid weight gain, black or bloody stools, bloody urine or vomit, allergic reactions, such as difficulty breathing, hives, swelling of the lips, the tongue or face, decreased hearing or ringing in the ears (tinnitus).
Common NSAID painkillers, such as ibuprofen, are also associated now with heart conditions. One study showed that NSAID drugs caused a 30% increased risk of the first hospital admission for heart failure (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-05/bsj-cpa051806.php).
Indeed, NDSAID’s may cause an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events, hypertension, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and stroke, which can be fatal; and these risks increase the longer the drugs are used.
16th March 2017. An Update.
The doctor's magazine 'Pulse' has reported today that researchers have called for all 'over-the-counter sales' of the drug Ibuprofen be restricted to pharmacies. The study found that this NSAID drug raised the relative risk of cardiac arrest ‘by 31%’.
16th March 2017. An Update.
The doctor's magazine 'Pulse' has reported today that researchers have called for all 'over-the-counter sales' of the drug Ibuprofen be restricted to pharmacies. The study found that this NSAID drug raised the relative risk of cardiac arrest ‘by 31%’.
