LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

diclofenac

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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Arthritis Relief: Is Ginger Good for Joint Relief?

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We want to live life to our fullest; this means no arthritis pain. Many use drugs for arthritis relief, but safety is a concerns. Is ginger good for joint relief?

Mother Nature knew what she was doing.  Us–not so much.

It seems like anytime we try to mess with nature we screw things up.  Anti-inflammatories are certainly on this list.  Here is how things usually work:

  • Nature makes a compound that positively effects some pathway in our body.  This effect is usually subtle and takes time for the effect to show, but has a very good safety profile for long term use.
  • Scientists find said natural compound and modify it so that it has a strong short term effect but thus becomes dangerous in the long run.

Overall, the drug companies try to find compounds that have the greatest effect at the lowest concentrations.  They want compounds with as high of a LD50 as possible (the LD50 is the level at which the compound kills 50% of the study participants).  But they all will kill at high enough dosages (even water can kill if you stuff enough of it in our bloodstream).

While the list of problems associated with anti-inflammatories (specifically the NSAID class of drugs) is quite long and has been addressed in prior posts that can be read here, suffice it to say that I consider this one of the most dangerous classes of drugs, resulting from a combination of the broad spectrum of subtle side effects combined with the near-universal belief in their safety by the general population.

 There are many natural, unadulterated compounds that have been shown to lower inflammation and have solid research behind them.  Curcumin / turmeric, boswellia, cat’s claw and proteolytic enzymes to name a few.  Ginger is also on the list.

This particular study looks at the effectiveness of ginger to both control pain associated with arthritis as well as protect the lining of the stomach (a MAJOR concern with NSAIDs).  It was compared with diclofenac (Voltaren), a common anti-inflammatory used for arthritis pain.

The safety profile of ginger was, as expected, much better on the stomach than the diclofenac.  Surprisingly, the pain relief was equivalent in both groups (as measured by the Visual Analog Scale, or VAS).

If you have tried ginger for arthritis relief, what was your experience?