NSAID -
Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs are used for analgesic (pain reducing) and
anti-pyretic (fever reducing) properties. NSAIDs comprise a large class of
drugs with many different options. In addition to aspirin, there are currently
several types of both non-prescription (over-the-counter) NSAIDs and
prescription brands of NSAIDs. The three types of NSAIDs most commonly used to
treat many types of pain include:
- Ibuprofen
(e.g. brand names Advil, Motrin, Nuprin)
- Naproxen
(e.g. brand names Aleve, Naprosyn)
- COX-2
inhibitors (e.g. brand name Celebrex)
People all
over the world pop these over the counter pills to reduce pain and fever,
however; without knowing their very real side effects.
Cartilage Damage
NSAIDs are
also referred as safe drugs for people suffering from arthritis but innocent
people popping these pill are unaware about the real health risks associated
with them. Most people are unaware about the fact that NSAIDs enhance the
destruction of cartilage and also inhibit formation of new cartilage. It is an
irony that people taking these pills to reduce their signs and symptoms of
arthritis are actually contributing to the progression of their sufferings.
Research
done on animal tissues in laboratories has found that NSAIDs actually slowed
the healing of injured muscles, tendons, ligament, and bones. NSAIDs work by
inhibiting the production of prostaglandins, substances that are involved in
pain and also in the creation of collagen. Less prostaglandin means less
production of collagen. Thus, it actually inhibits the healing of tissues and
bone injuries.
The
Encyclopaedia of Medical Breakthroughs and Forbidden Treatments states: “In
1979, physicians in Norway made X-ray evaluations of the hips of 58 patients
taking Indicin (indomethacin). Patients taking the NSAID experienced
significantly more rapid destruction of the hip than the control group taking
no NSAIDs. Studies with aspirin and other NSAIDs have repeated these results.”
Kidney Damage
According to
Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore,
Maryland - Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are capable of
inducing a variety of renal function abnormalities, particularly in high-risk
patients with decreased renal blood perfusion who depend on prostaglandin
synthesis to maintain normal renal function. Fluid retention is the most common
NSAID-related renal complication, occurring to some degree in virtually all
exposed individuals.
The ability
to excrete a salt load (salt load being what we take in nutritionally on a
daily basis) is dependent on prostaglandin integrity -- that is, the
homeostatic pathway for prostaglandin production should be intact. And therein,
a natriuretic environment emerges, and salt handling is correctly managed by
the body.
“We see a
range of changes in renal function and electrolytes owing to a drop in
prostaglandin (PG) production as a consequence of the NSAID. In particular,
PGI-2 and PGE-2 decrease in quantity in temporal fashion in relationship to the
NSAID. PGI-2, in particular, is important to the stimulation and therein
release of renin and thereafter aldosterone such that patients receiving a
NSAID -- and it takes no more than just a couple of doses -- become
hyper-reninemic and hypoaldosteronemic. In so doing, an important homeostatic
pathway for control of potassium, that is aldosterone, is negated in its
action” Dr. Domenic Sica, Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, Chairman,
Section of Clinical Pharmacology and Hypertension, Division of Nephrology, at
Virginia Commonwealth University.
Hypertension
Salt and
water retention can be accompanied by specific changes in blood pressure,
particularly in those people who have salt-sensitive forms of hypertension,
such as the older individual, the diabetic, or the patient with borderline
changes in renal function. The rises in blood pressure that occur as a
consequence of the change in body weight owing to fluid retention can be
dramatic, as much as 20 to 40 mm [Hg] systolic.
Heart Disease
According to
investigative medical journalists at Medical Research Associates “The
researchers at the University of Newcastle in Australia have discovered that
NSAID use is a significant contributor to congestive heart failure (CHF). CHF
is failure of the heart muscle including its ability to maintain adequate blood
circulation throughout the body or to pump out the venous blood as it returns
to the heart.”
A team of
Danish researchers followed the health of almost 100,000 people who had a first
heart attack for five years. During this time, almost half of them were
prescribed an NSAID at least once. After one year, those who used an NSAID were
about 60% more likely to have died during each year of the study than those who
didn’t use an NSAID.
Hearing Loss
According to
another study by researchers at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital
(BWH), women who took ibuprofen or acetaminophen for two or more days per week
had an increased risk of hearing loss. Women who took these drugs too often are
at a very high risk for hearing loss. “Possible mechanisms might be that NSAIDs
may reduce blood flow to the cochlea — the hearing organ — and impair its
function,” said first study author Sharon G. Curhan of BWH’s Channing Division
of Network Medicine. “Acetaminophen may deplete factors that protect the
cochlea from damage.”
Gastrointestinal Mucosa
NSAIDS like
aspirin, naproxen and many others commonly causes damage to gastro duodenal
mucosa, which leads to stomach ulcers and erosions. Recent figures indicate
that close to two-thirds of NSAID users suffer from small intestine
enteropathy. Frequent usage of the NSAIDS and other medications continues to
wreak havoc and cause further damage to the mucosal wall barrier.
There is
enough research now available which reveals the serious health risk associated
with regular intake of NSAIDS. Just because they are easily available and can
be taken for any acute inflammation does not mean that you can take them
whenever you want with no consequences.
