Arthritis Drugs

A word about Arthritis Drugs. In a word, if at all possible, don't take them! The most common painkillers are the anti-inflammatories, Ibuprofen and Diclofenac. Some are prescribed by qualified medical practitioners and some are even available over the counter. Codeine, which is also commonly prescribed, is a narcotic and is therefore addictive and can cause drowsiness and constipation.

I don't want to be alarmist but I feel I must warn you about the risk of serious side effects from these drugs, which are more common than you may think. In certain circumstances, you may be ten times more at risk of a heart attack from taking these drugs.

There is a wealth of reliable evidence, from authoritative agencies, such as The Arthritis Research Campaign, The US Food and Drug Agency and The British Medical Association, all supported by proven statistics.

Whilst the side effects from moderate, infrequent use are normally not significant, prolonged use, by certain sectors of the public can be so serious as to be life-threatening. To find an alternative Arthritis Treatment go to our Home Page.

These anti-inflammatory drugs are known as NSAIDS, which is an abbreviation of non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs. There are various possible minor side effects but the real dangers are of stomach ulcers, intestinal bleeding, heart attacks and strokes. The risk of these is much increased if you are elderly or if you have been taking these drugs over a prolonged period and especially if you already have heart problems or high blood pressure.

This is an extract from the website of the US Food and Drug Agency:

"Based on the currently available data, FDA (The US Food and Drugs Administration) has concluded that an increased risk of serious adverse cardiovascular events appears to be a class effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (excluding aspirin). FDA has requested that the package insert for all NSAIDs, including Celebrex, be revised to include a boxed warning to highlight the potential increased risk of CV events and the well described risk of serious, and potentially life-threatening, gastrointestinal bleeding. FDA has also requested that the package insert for all NSAIDs be revised to include a contraindication for use in patients immediately post-operative from coronary artery bypass (CABG) surgery. FDA Alert 4/7/2005."

Many elderly sufferers from arthritis, gout and other painful joint conditions, also have problems with heart disease or hypertension (high blood pressure). This group of patients is potentially at much greater risk of heart attacks and strokes, compared to the rest of the population.

Even people without these symptoms are at twice the risk of heart failure, if they are heavy users of these anti-inflammatory drugs, as reported by BBC News.

"NSAIDs aside from aspirin are associated with a doubled risk of symptomatic heart failure in patients without a history of cardiac disease. In patients with such a history, however, use of NSAIDs (aside from low-dose aspirin) was associated with more than 10-fold increase in heart failure. If this link is found to be causal, NSAIDs are estimated to be responsible for up to 20 percent of hospital admissions for congestive heart failure."

Considering all these facts, there is a strong case for arthritis sufferers to find alternative remedies to stop the pain of arthritis. There are many possible treatments, often from common household ingredients, which are claimed to give significant relief, without the dangerous side effects of these prescription and over-the-counter drugs. 

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