Add heart disease and death to the roster of health risks that common over-the-counter and prescription pain medications may cause.
A recent study confirms that two of the most well-known and popular ingredients in over-the-counter and prescription pain medications raise heart risk and can cause heart disease-related deaths.
NSAID Causes Heart Disease and Death
The study revealed that pain medications which contain the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (popularly known as NSAID) may cause heart disease and death even in healthy people or those who do not suffer from or had no history of heart disease. Not so long ago, NSAID was also found to cause stomach ulcers and stomach bleeding if taken in large doses or for a long period of time. Similarly, large doses of NSAID are identified as the primary cause of the increased risk in heart disease and deaths. Unfortunately, there were deaths even among those who have been taking pain medication containing NSAID only for two weeks. On can conclude that the increased heart risk is mainly caused by the quantity of the dosage of pain medications with NSAID and can not be attributed to the length of time a person has been taking the pain medication.
Ibuprofen Increases Risk of Stroke By 30%
Ibuprofen has always been perceived to be one of the mildest and harmless ingredients in over-the-counter pain killers. That is why the finding that it increases the risk of stroke came as a shock to many who have been using ibuprofen for years for every kind of pain there is. Perhaps, what is even more alarming is the fact that most people thought that ibuprofen could actually lower the risk of heart attack. The good news is that it actually does - but only when taken in low doses. The study shows that the increased risk of heart attack arises only if large doses of ibuprofen are taken in. A large dose means taking 1,200 milligrams of ibuprofen in a day. If your intake is considerably lower and if you take it only to relieve occasional pains, then you have nothing to worry about.
All these findings are making more people a bit apprehensive about buying and taking over-the-counter pain killers and even prescription pain medication. This explains the shift to alternative pain management techniques and the demand for more natural forms of medication such as herbal and dietary supplements. These remedies, unlike pain medication, can not give instant relief as it usually takes a long time before one can experience the benefits. Also, most of these remedies do not completely eradicate pain. Rather, they make pain manageable.
It is unavoidable to resort to over-the-counter pain medication especially when dealing with acute pain. When suffering from acute pain, urgent relief is always needed. People should not be afraid to take an occasional pain killer as long as they keep in mind to take not more than what is needed and to use them not longer than necessary.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.massagebyben.com/articles/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 