Word: nsaids
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That's true also for the use of over-the-counter painkillers like ibuprofen and naproxen, and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like Celebrex (celecoxib). Guidelines written and published by the American Geriatrics Society warned against using these drugs chronically and at moderate-to-high doses in patients age 75 or older with persistent pain. Citing the many risks of long-term NSAID use, including fatal ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding, increased risk of heart attack and stroke and dangerous interactions with other drugs commonly prescribed to the elderly, the American Geriatrics Society suggested that seniors try acetaminophen instead...
...Pain study, which was led by Italian neuroscientist Martina Amanzio, reviewed 73 clinical trials conducted between 1988 and 2007. All the previously published trials pitted potential antimigraine medications against sugar pills. The medications included nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen (Advil); triptans, which include Imitrex; and anticonvulsant drugs like Topamax. Those three categories of drugs carry different adverse effects: NSAIDs, for instance, often cause stomach problems; anticonvulsants can cause paresthesia (tingling) and memory impairment. Interestingly, patients who took sugar pills tended to report nocebo problems consistent with whatever drug they thought they might have swallowed...
...American College of Rheumatology in Boston and several reports in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association. In one study, researchers compared Celebrex, one of the so-called COX-II inhibitors (they attack an enzyme, COX-II, that promotes inflammation) to naproxen, a commonly used NSAID. Both reduced the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. But while 26% of the naproxen patients got an ulcer in either the stomach or the small intestine, ulcers struck only 4% to 6% of those taking Celebrex...
Another new drug, called Remicade, approved just a few weeks ago by the FDA, is also the focus of a JAMA report. A medication called methotrexate has long been the treatment of choice for rheumatoid arthritis. It is not an NSAID, so it doesn't cause ulcers--but for many patients it stops working after a while. More than half the people who took Remicade along with methotrexate had at least a 20% reduction in arthritis symptoms, according to the study...
Some days the arthritis pain would get so bad that Sylvia Zebroski, 51, of Stamford, Conn., couldn't sleep. Aspirin worked for a while, but then she developed stabbing pains in her stomach. She switched to naproxen, which, like aspirin, is a so-called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID. Same story. "I took myself off naproxen and went to my doctor in tears," she recalls. He put her on a new experimental drug, and this time, no arthritis pain--and no stomach pain. Says Zebroski: "It's made all the difference in the world...