The Dangers of Anti-inflammatory Drugs

The Archives of Internal Medicine, has recently published a study on more than 125,000 regular users of anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which has shown that taking these drugs could increase the risk of kidney cancer by 36%.

It was shown by the researchers at the Harvard Medical School that patients who took anti-inflammatory drugs – used to treat conditions such as arthritis for example. - for between four and 10 years had an increased risk of developing kidney cancer and that the risk tripled for people taking these drugs for 10 years or longer.

 Prolonged use of these non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can also cause stomach irritation, high blood pressure, diarrhoea, peptic ulcers, kidney failure and liver damage.

Tumeric

They've been linked to 80% of cases of gastrointestinal ulcerations and bleeding – 10% of which are fatal.

Prevention magazine reported that complications from over the counter pain relievers kill 16,500 people each year – an average of 45 needless deaths every day in the US alone.
If you’re one of the estimated 10 million people currently taking large dosages of NSAIDs every day, keep this in mind also: NSAIDs don’t “fix” anything!

Your painkillers may alleviate symptoms, but they don’t help your joints. You could get caught up in a cycle where first you suffer the symptoms. Then you suffer the side-effects.

So what do I do you may ask? Well the first step would be to address the cause. This can often be done with dietary and life style changes. Then if you still feel you need an anti-inflammatory then look no further than your kitchen cupboard. Voilla! Turmeric!

And I thought I was doing the right thing

Ascorbic Acid ( synthetic Vitamin C)

Any label that touts "Added Vitamin C" will usually come in the form of Ascorbic Acid. Beware that this not only kills off the bad bacteria, but also the good gut bacteria. Ascorbic acid is derived from corn starch, which these days in the USA is genetically modified, so now there is also that to consider.

The important thing to remember here, is that we want to preserve our good gut bacteria.

It shows us again how important it is to read our labels and if you are supplementing with Vitamin C to check what form it comes in.