Posted on 09/13/2006 8:14:50 PM PDT by neverdem
Studies raise new concern about other medications
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Worried that your painkiller could trigger a heart attack or dangerous stomach bleeding?
New reports on painkiller risks, based on reviews of dozens of studies including hundreds of thousands of patients, indicate most patients should try naproxen, an older anti-inflammatory drug.
Experts say it doesn't raise heart attack or stroke risk -- a major worry for older people -- and naproxen is inexpensive because generic versions have been around for years. Available over the counter, it's taken by millions of Americans.
The drawback is that like most painkillers, it can irritate the stomach, so doctors say some people may also need to take one of the newer acid reflux drugs.
"I do think we should start with naproxen in the vast majority of cases," said Dr. Steven Nissen, head of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic and president of the American College of Cardiology. "It's about balancing the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal risk."
The new reports were published Tuesday ahead of schedule on the Web site of the Journal of the American Medical Association because of their public health implications. They will be published in the Oct. 4 issue of the journal.
Along with the good news about naproxen, the two studies raise new concerns about a few painkillers, particularly diclofenac, which has been on the market since 1988. The commonly used anti-inflammatory drug, also sold as Voltaren and Cataflam, carries as high a risk of heart attack or stroke as Vioxx.
The new analyses also provide even more evidence of the dangers to the heart and kidneys posed by Vioxx, which was pulled from the market two years ago.
The latest findings should help patients and doctors confused about painkiller safety since news began unfolding about the risks of Vioxx, Bextra and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Based on a study that group did with Hartford Medical School, patients should wait seven years before trying a new drug, Sasich said. By then, safety problems usually become clear. Patients also should review the Food and Drug Administration guide to NSAIDS on its Web site or ask a pharmacist.
Those especially worried about safety could try pain ointments first, said Dr. Richard Jermyn, director of the University Pain Care Center in Stratford, N.J. If they don't help, he suggests Tylenol, then naproxen or ibuprofen before resorting to Celebrex, a Pfizer Inc. drug in the same class as Merck & Co.'s Vioxx. He urges patients on any of those drugs to get liver and kidney function tests every six months.
The heart risks from diclofenac were reported by researchers at the University of Newcastle in Australia. That report recommends regulators review whether diclofenac should stay on the market.
The FDA said in a written response that none of the new information warrants a change in its regulations on NSAIDs.
The same report also showed increased cardiovascular risk with another old but less-used drug, indomethacin, and "probably" the same with the newer Mobic, Dr. David Graham, an FDA drug safety expert critical of the agency's handling of Vioxx concerns, wrote in an editorial.
Mobic, made by Boehringer Ingelheim Corp., is widely used in Australia, and many U.S. patients were switched to it amid worries that all the cox-2 inhibitors -- the class that includes Vioxx and Celebrex -- increased cardiac risk.
Graham, who was not writing on behalf of the FDA, noted that even Celebrex -- considered a good alternative drug by some experts -- increased heart risks at high doses.
The second review, by researchers at Harvard's medical and public health schools and Brigham and Women's Hospital, covered only the cox-2 drugs and focused on less-publicized problems, including abnormal heart rhythms and kidney-related disorders. It found those risks are not raised by Celebrex or other cox-2 drugs sold in foreign countries, but Vioxx increased the risk of kidney problems about 50 percent and nearly tripled the risk of potentially deadly heart rhythms.
That could add to the more than 16,000 lawsuits already filed against Merck. In addition, the review of cardiovascular studies found that Vioxx increased heart attack and stroke risk right away -- not after 18 months' use as Merck has argued in defending against lawsuits -- and that the drug was particularly dangerous at doses above 25 milligrams per day.
Merck said in a statement that data from previous studies contradict "the interpretations published today" in JAMA that short-term Vioxx use raises heart attack and stroke risk.
THE RANKINGS
According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the painkiller naproxen has less of a cardiovascular risk than other drugs. Here are the rankings of risk estimates, from lowest risk estimate to highest risk estimate:
1. Naproxen
2. Celebrex
3. Ibuprofen
4. Other anti-inflammatory drugs
5. Mobic
6. Vioxx
7. Voltaren
Ping...
One time after she had a root canal, the dentist gave her Hydrocodone saying it wouldn't cause the same side effects as Codeine.
Well, the next morning I had to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital because she couldn't stop throwing up after taking just two pills. The doctor at the ER told me she probably would have died from dehydration if I hadn't done that.
I use 1 over the counter Aleve with 2 tylenol every 12 hours.
Reborn (Zolpidem - "Ambien" - brings people out of Persistent Vegetative State")
Electric jolt triggers release of biomolecules, nanoparticles
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Thanks, will give that a try. Did your doctor recommend that dosage?
It's gotten ridiculous, I think.
Aleve better than Darvon 65 ? Wow, Darvon was wonderful for me years ago when I had to have a lot of dental work crammed into a short time but nowadays no one will even prescribe it. It's the very best painkiller I've ever taken.(Demerol was as good or better but I didn't like the really weird dreams that came with it so I only took it the once).
For inflammatory stuff Indomethacin(sp) works wonders but you need a prescription for it, it makes Advil look very puny !
Dumb doctor! Darvocet is related to codeine.
I was told as much when I was given it after the birth of my first child. I only had two within 12 hours and that was enough.
Naproxen is the pain reliever of choice for me to knock out a muscle/back-out-of-alignment headache.
Darvon is also codeine-related. The docs are reluctant to prescribe it because it is addictive for that very reason.
go ahead and try it, hopefully it will work for you, but i have found naproxen to be very ineffective.
Sounds like a statin. They can be hard on the liver.
Funny how everyone can react so differently. Darvocet doesn't do anything for me.
Actually, interferon for MS, equally hard on the liver.
After a disastrous hospital visit, I found I have the same problem with Darvocet and puking; I'm now an Advil fan. There is no pain I've ever had that 2 or 3 Advil didn't knock out, fast.
Ibuprofen is the gold standard for pain control in dentistry. Don't have too much arthritis in dentistry so I don't know about that side effect.
Post op pain after taking out wizzies was what was used as the model for dental pain relief. 600 mg is just as effective as 800 mg.
In order to stop the pain you have to take a durg that will harm either your liver or your stomach it seems. I was put on Mobic for my Osteo-arthritis/fibromyalgia and in 3 days I was eating tums constantly. Needless to say I won't be taking Mobic, I don't want to have to live on their acid meds that have their own bad side effects. I've had to many bad reactions to their drugs over the years and try and not take more than tylenol and advil occassionaly.
All the side effects put me between a rock and a hard place as I have OA in my hands, feet, 1 knee and back, so I live in constant pain.
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