This article is directly related to a study that appeared a few days ago suggesting a link between heavy usage of Ibuprofen (commonly known as Advil) and risk of stroke. The corresponding research was done by a team of scientists from Switzerland. The team looked at 31 clinical trials involving 116,429 patients. They had each taken one of seven commonly-used painkillers. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that those who had taken ibuprofen over a long period of time were almost three times as likely to suffer a stroke.
The painkiller was also shown to raise significantly the risk of heart attacks and deaths caused by heart disease.This study also suggested that Ibuprofen carried the same risk of stroke and death from heart disease as a drug called, Vioxx, which was pulled from the market in 2004 amidst serious safety concerns.
Professor Peter Jüni, of the University of Bern, said: ‘We looked at patients taking these drugs three to four times a day. ‘They were mainly being treated for osteoarthritis with a few who had rheumatoid arthritis. A lot of them are elderly who are already have lots of risk factors and these will then be duplicated with these painkillers.
‘In terms of stroke, ibuprofen doesn’t look very good. If I was in chronic pain I would not take it as the risks are just too high. I would look at the different options.’
In my practice, I see lots of patients in acute and chronic pain and lo and behold, many have been taking Advil before they seek my care. In reality, many of these same patients do not wish to continue taking these medications. They arrive at my office looking for a better solution to their ailments that doesn't require medication. Chiropractic has helped many patients not only resolve their acute pain but to also manage and treat chronic pain as well. Now to be thorough it has to be stressed that the dosage of Ibuprofen in these studies was very high. How high you ask? Well the researchers believe people at most risk would have to take 4 pills daily for a matter of months or even years. So take the results with a grain of salt. I think the take home message is to remind people that although painkillers like Advil (Ibuprofen) are available off the shelf and without a prescription, be careful! Advil is not candy and if you need to take it for an extended period of time to manage pain, maybe it's time to look at alternatives!
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