NSAIDs are widely used for mild to moderate pain relief, particularly from arthritis.
TUESDAY, July 17, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Factors to be considered when choosing the correct nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (
NSAID) for arthritis include effectiveness, concurrent health conditions, and frequency of use, according to a blog post published by the Arthritis Foundation.
For example, two nonrandomized trials comparing
NSAIDs and acetaminophen in patients with quiescent disease found
NSAIDs were associated with frequent, early clinical relapse of IBD.
NSAID EFFICACY FOR NECK PAIN: In 2017, Machado, et al, performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of 35 randomized controlled trials which revealed that the magnitude of the difference in outcomes between
NSAIDs and placebo groups is not clinically important for spinal pain.
Of this group, three-quarters (n = 243) received
NSAIDs, while one-quarter (n = 81) did not.
Millions of Britons take
NSAIDs to treat pain and inflammation.
However, most of the reported research has failed to include control groups of patients who were not using
NSAIDs or LDA, so no clear evidence has been gathered on whether gastric and duodenal ulcer symptoms are truly milder for NSAID-induced and LDA-induced ulcers.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, used data for almost 10 million
NSAIDs users from the UK, Netherlands, Italy and Germany, who started
NSAID treatment between 2000 and 2010.
It found that people who had taken any
NSAID in the previous 14 days had a 19% increased risk of hospital admission for heart failure compared to those who had used
NSAIDs at any point in the past.
"It's been well-known for a number of years that newer types of
NSAIDs -- what are known as COX-2 inhibitors, increase the risk of heart attacks.
In addition to the overall increased cardiovascular risk, taking
NSAIDs puts patients at a higher risk of kidney damage, water retention, heart failure, and bleeding, especially gastrointestinal bleeding.
While some previous studies have linked
NSAIDs to diminished kidney function, the outcome often ignored those who already had hypertension, which itself carries an increased risk for kidney damage.