LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

NSAIDs Dangerous

Ibuprofen Class of Drugs Kills 21,000 Per Year

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ARE YOU AWARE THAT THIS COMMON CLASS OF DRUGS KILLS 21,000 PEOPLE PER YEAR?

Almost everyone is surprised about the annual number of deaths that occur due to the Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (like ibuprofen).  This number, in light of the increased risk of NSAIDs on the heart that came to light because of the Vioxx trials, is likely much, much higher.  Most deaths from this class of drugs are from bleeding ulcers.  I’m not even sure we’re counting the cardiovascular deaths.

This particular study illuminates why these numbers may be so high.  Researchers looked at patients who were given prescriptions for an NSAID.  Of these, 86.6% were at increased GI risk and 72.7% for heart disease.  The patients’ individual risk had no bearing on getting the prescription.

Wow.  I always find this in stark contrast to the opinion that chiropractic care is “unsafe” or someone doesn’t “believe” in chiropractic care (didn’t know it was a religion…).  Instead of a referral to a chiropractor, many PCPs will give a prescription for NSAIDs, unaware of the high risks associated with this class of drugs.  Think of this next time you crack open that bottle of ibuprofen for your headache…

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NSAIDS–Just Two Weeks to Ulcers

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CAN JUST TWO WEEKS OF NSAIDS DESTROY THE STOMACH AND INTESTINES?  It amazes me how frequently patients take this class of drugs without any thought to the fact that some 16,000-21,000 people DIE each year from this class of drugs, most often due to bleeding ulcers.  This is truly a scary study, following 55 healthy volunteers given diclofenac (i.e. Voltaren) for just 2 wks along with a drug that supposedly protects the stomach from these drugs.  60% had lesions after, with a whopping 636 lesions to share among them.  636.  Two weeks.  ON a “protective” drug.  This devastated the lining of the gut in a very, very short period of time.  Funny, though, that many physicians will put their patients on this class of drugs before recommending chiropractic care (which, to my knowledge, does NOT cause lesions in the stomach….).  One would think this should be malpractice….

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Ibuprofen Side Effects: Add a New Life-Threatening One to the List

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Unfortunately, when most of us think about the side effects of NSAIDs like ibuprofen, we think ulcers.

That’s not to say some 20,000 bleeding ulcers annually leading to death is something to be taken lightly, but it’s merely the tip of the iceberg.  The cardiovascular risks of NSAIDs began to appear in the medical literature some 5+ years ago, with the cardiovascular societies ultimately putting out the recommendation that anyone with a pre-existing cardiovascular condition should NOT take a NSAID.

That’s a pretty strong statement.  And one that has largely gone unnoticed by both the rest of the medical community and the general public.

Overall, the number of patients who die prematurely every year as a result of taking something as “benign” as an ibuprofen or diclofenac, is likely uncountable because the use of this class of drugs is so massively high.

Closer to home, pretty much every single week I hear something about a patient who was told by his or her doctor NOT to see a chiropractor, or has a friend or coworker who would NEVER see a chiropractor or heard a news report that chiropractors are killing people on a daily basis with cervical manipulation (I personally just throw our practices’ dead bodies in the dumpster at the end of my parking lot).

And yet, these same doctors, these same friends and coworkers will prescribe and pop anti-inflammatories like they are candy with no knowledge of the numbers of deaths they cause annually.

This disparity in the perceived danger and the actual dangers is about to get a little wider.

In this particular study, we can add yet another side effect of NSAIDs to the already long list.

Atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat).

Researchers looked across 5 studies to see whether NSAID use was associated with an irregular heartbeat.  Here’s what they found:

  • NSAID use was associated with a 12% increased risk for AFib.
  • The risk was worse among new users, rising up to 53%.

The authors concluded that the risk of new onset AFib should be included in the list of known side effects of ibuprofen as well as other drugs in the NSAID class.

I can’t help but point out that, at the time of the writing of this article, no such additional life-threatening warnings have been applied to chiropractic care…

 

SSRI and Risk of Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Bleeding – (01-18-03)

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SSRI and Risk of Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Bleeding

I must admit that this is the first time I have heard of this association, but the numbers are a tiny bit concerning….3.6 times the risk alone and a whopping 12.2 times the risk with concomitant NSAID use. Considering that counseling has gone the way of the sabre tooth tiger (remember when you used to associate psychiatrists with lying on the couch??) the use of meds has skyrocketed and this is a very, very real concern.

Read entire article here

NSAIDs as a Trigger of Clinical Heart Failure – (03-31-03)

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NSAIDs as a Trigger of Clinical Heart Failure.

NSAIDs double the risk of heart failure in patients with a history of heart problems. Considering their widespread use, the number of patients affected by this association is probably close to staggering. All by themselves, NSAIDs are believed to cause some 16-19,000 deaths per year via GI bleeding (kind of beats 20 over a lifetime, huh?).

Click here for more information.

H. pylori eradication and NSAIDs: effects on ulcers – (08-10-00)

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H. pylori eradication and NSAIDs: effects on ulcers

First, I think that there are too many questions about H. pylori’s effect on ulcers. Some researchers say it is supposed to be there, some say H. pylori is an infection and needs to be medicated, yet others suggests that H. pylori protects against reflux disease. Next, (and here comes my chiropractic viewpoint) what is the reason the patient is taking the NSAIDs and can the problem be fixed so the drug is not needed??

Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics 14 (7), 879-885 Eradication of H. pylori prior to NSAID therapy significantly reduces the level of apoptosis in the gastric mucosa, which may contribute to maintaining mucosa integrity and preventing ulcer development.

Is Your Anti-Inflammatory Creating Inflammation? More Ibuprofen Side Effects

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Sounds like kind of a mixed up question, doesn’t it?  “Anti” generally means opposed to, as in stopping.  But what if anti-inflammatories are so damaging to your system that they initiate inflammation?

You know, of course, that I wouldn’t be asking such a rhetorical question if it didn’t have something to do with this particular article.

In it, researchers take a good, hard look at what NSAIDs do to us from a physiological standpoint.  And it’s not a pretty picture.

You are probably aware that mainstream medicine hands NSAIDs out with Butterfingers to Halloween trick or treaters (at our house, we usually liberally hand out cruciferous veggies and hummus).  Unfortunately, beyond the risk of a bleeding ulcer, I don’t think most of these providers are aware of the growing list of problems caused by this class of drugs.  (If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out my eBook on the dangers of the NSAIDs by clicking here).

Back to the article…

As mentioned, there is a very clear and well known association between NSAID use and the development of bleeding ulcers.  Depending on the year, this side effect kills anywhere from 16,000-21,000 unsuspecting users per year.  The deaths from the cardiac side effects likely dwarfs these numbers.

Since the GI side effects are the most legendary, these researchers looked at what happens to the cells of the stomach under the influence of one of the more notorious anti-inflammatories, indomethacin.

The use of indomethacin in rats leads to the damaging of the mitochondria.  I won’t go into how much I LOVE this organelle and how important they are to life and health, but just suffice it to say that this is a very, very bad thing to happen.  This mitochondrial damage, which is not good for a cell, kicks off inflammation, leading to the production of chemical messengers in the cell with exotic names like intercellular adhesion molecule 1(ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule 1(VCAM-1), interleukin1β (IL-1β), and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1).

This inflammation acts as a beacon for more inflammatory chemicals to come to the aid of the NSAID-damaged tissue, wreaking havoc.  Then here’s where  the story gets complicated (just in case it wasn’t already).

When the cells recognize the mitochondrial damage and resulting oxidative stress, the cells produce a protective enzyme known as heme oxygenase-1 (aka HO-1),  Sounds good, right?

Wrong.

It turns out that, if antioxidants like zinc containing compounds are present, the release of HO-1 may be blocked.

Great.  It’s safer to take NSAIDs if you avoid healthy foods like fruits, vegetables and spices just so you don’t run the risk of massive inflammation in the lining of your stomach.

Personally, I’d opt for finding a good chiropractor instead.  Sounds a whole lot less complicated.  But then again, my opinion is pretty biased.