Anti-Inflammatory Medicines

("I bet you should") 

Anti-inflammatory  medications and their side-effects 

Vioxx withdrawn from  market: Risk of heart attack and stroke.

The best example of an   anti-inflammatory medication that actually had to be withdrawn from the market  because of its strong side-effects is Vioxx.   The Merck pharmaceutical company withdrew its arthritis painkiller Vioxx  from the market.

           

The reason: The  medicine increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.  It was celebrated on its release- Vioxx, the  new medicine for joint pain (osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.)  Vioxx belonged to a class of medicines   designated as Cyclooxygenase-2, or COX-2 Inhibitors.

           

This is a class of   anti-inflammatory medications.  The US  regulatory authority the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its  intention to check other products in the same category of medicines  (Cyclooxygenase-2 or COX-2 Inhibitors) for increased risk of serious heart  problems.

           

Heaven knows whether  these medicines have now all been checked and are actually so much safer than  Vioxx.

           

Pharmaceutical experts   were asking questions about the possible cardiovascular impacts of these  medicines even as they were introduced.   At that time, in 1999, it was said that there were no conclusions to  hand on this.  In the studies leading to  the passing of Vioxx, there were said to have been no indications of an  increased risk.

But the suppositions  did not appear plucked out of the air even then.  As early as 2000 a further study showed that  there was an increased risk of cardiovascular events.  But it was emphasized again and again that no  connection with heart and circulatory disease was found and the first results  of the APPROVe-Study, which could not in fact find any increased risk after 18 months, were quoted to support this.

Another 18 months  later things looked different.  A  three-year trial showed the increased risk of cardiovascular  incidents beginning after 18 months of treatment with Vioxx.

Other side-effects of  Cyclooxygenase-2 or COX-2 Inhibitors.

It's not just strokes  or heart attacks that have to be considered as possible side-effects.  A recent study proves that the percentage of  minor side-effects in patients given Celecoxib, for example, amounted to 4.8%  (stomach pains), 4.8% (symptoms of disturbed digestion) and 2.4% (nausea.).

The example of Vioxx poses a few basic questions:

-Shouldn't the weighing-up of effects and side-effects be done even more carefully?  With Vioxx the risk of a heart attack or stroke is far too high.  But other rheumatism medicines give rise to stomach bleeds in 1 in 100 patients.

-Why is it not openly stated that an effective medication does also have unwanted side-effects? The pharmacologist Kay Brune notes in the Süddeutsche Zeitung 'For a long time the industry thought these medicines were so harmless that they could be employed for as long and in as high a dose as one wished.  But, as always with effective chemically manufactured substances, this was a fallacy.'

-One has to assume that most powerful rheumatism medications on the market- namely Cyclooxygenase-2 or COX-2 Inhibitors- have the same or similar side-effects as Vioxx.

-There are as good as no long-term studies with this type of medication.

The example of Vioxx poses a few basic questions:

    Shouldn't the weighing-up of effects and side-effects be done even more carefully?  With Vioxx the risk of a heart attack or stroke is far too high.  But other rheumatism medicines give rise to stomach bleeds in 1 in 100 patients.
    Why is it not openly stated that an effective medication does also have unwanted side-effects? The pharmacologist Kay Brune notes in the Süddeutsche Zeitung 'For a long time the industry thought these medicines were so harmless that they could be employed for as long and in as high a dose as one wished.  But, as always with effective chemically manufactured substances, this was a fallacy.'
    One has to assume that most powerful rheumatism medications on the market- namely Cyclooxygenase-2 or COX-2 Inhibitors- have the same or similar side-effects as Vioxx.
    There are as good as no long-term studies with this type of medication.

Weaker  anti-inflammatory medicines- Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) 

These include, for  example, aspirin, diclofenac, etodalac, indometacin, naproxen, ibuprofen and  piroxicam.   These are classic NSAIDs  currently prescribed for symptomatic treatment of inflammatory rheumatisms and  osteoarthritis.

But these NSAIDs show   certain unwanted side-effects and have a particular tendency to induce the  formation of ulcers in the stomach or gut (Goodman and Gilman, The  Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 9th ed, McGraw  Hill.)  These unwanted side-effects are  connected to the inhibition of the enzyme cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), a  constitutive isoform.  A further great  disadvantage is that the medication has to be administered over a long period  of time, especially in the treatment of chronic ailments.

Stomach pains or   digestive disruption are just the beginning when taking NSAIDs, followed by  severe side-effects in the stomach and gut areas.  Hence a recent study showed that the  percentages of minor side-effects in patients given NSAIDs amounted to 6.2%  (stomach pains), 5.8% (symptoms of disturbed digestion) and 3.4% (nausea.)

​Summary

 At present there is no   anti-inflammatory medicine which is side-effect-free.  In the case of NSAIDs it can be said that  this range of medicines are, in comparison to OCW - Old-Clear-Wise, relatively weak and,  depending on the condition of the stomach, will cause the complaints named  above after just two weeks.  Long-term  use is therefore unthinkable.  They also  add significant ulcers in the stomach and gut areas to your Alzheimer's and it  is very questionable whether these medications would show an effect for your  purposes.

The more powerful   anti-inflammatory medications, Cyclooxygenase-2 or COX-2 Inhibitors, carry an  increased risk of serious heart problems, as well as circulatory  complaints.  Moreover, they add stomach  and gut ulcers to your Alzheimer's- a position you surely do not want to be in.

In addition, these  powerful anti-inflammatory medications are only available on prescription.

           

The solution is OCW - Old-Clear-Wise

With OCW - Old-Clear-Wise you avoid all  these health risks.  OCW - Old-Clear-Wise was specifically  developed for Alzheimer's disease: it is a powerful anti-inflammatory and has  no side-effects whatsoever.