Tag Archives: Advil

News About Pain Killers- HEART ATTACK RISK AFTER ONE WEEK?!?!?

Very much to our surprise, our “go-to” pain medicine is not safe.  Yes, there is a complicated conversation about which medications to use for children, but older people have been told to take Ibuprofen. Apparently, this is now known to put us at risk of heart attacks!

A meta-analysis means an analysis of many other studies — presumably all that exist on the topic. Being in a peer reviewed journal is practical definition of science. While there may be office politics involved, it is as good as it gets in a practical sense. Peer reviewed means that other scientists reviewed and certified the study as a valid scientific study. Supposedly, without name(s) attached to the original study.

To quote from Life Extension Magazine:

a meta-analysis found the ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) can raise heart attack risk by 48% in less than a week. Ftnt1

Ftn1  Bally M. Dendukuri N, Rich B. et. Al. Osteoarthritis of the knee and hip: a comparison of factors associated with physical activity. Clin Rheumatol. 2007 Nov:26(11):1811-7

 

The same analysis found a week of naproxen (Aleve) use increases heart attack risk by 53% compared to non-users. Ftn2

Ftn 2  Hsu C., Wong J. Hsu YH et. al. Use of Nonsteriodial Anti-Inflamatory Drugs and Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease in Subject With Hypertension: Nationwide Longitutidinal Cohort Study. Hypertension 2015 Sept 66(3):524-33.

 

BUT THEN I went shopping for aspirin!

I noticed that little bottles that were orange and big bottles that were not, had exactly the same contents, but different prices. But then! I looked at the inqredients! the big cheap bottle of aspirin listed several ingreidents other than salycylic acid, which is the active ingredient, from the bark of a willow tree. It include propylene gylcol and polyethelene something. These are from oil. these are used in making that plastic yellow rope and the finish on ship decks. Although often in makeup and soap type products, for sure, I wouldn’t want plastic rope ingredients lodged in my heart.

So, then, I looked at the more expensive brand. ON the box, there was no information about inactive ingredients. A clerk showed me that if I took the bottle out of the box, and knew how to unstick the label, that inside I could find them. There were fewer. I bought that bottle. But since then I have heard the familiar name of the company cited as one of the worst big pharma, even anti-christ type companies. Well.

Let me know if you have some suggestions!