How Safe are NSAID's(aspirin, ibuprofin, etc)?

Aspirin, Ibuprofin, Excedrin, and Tylenol are all household names for pain medicine. We all use these drugs to stop headaches, backaches ,or, well, any ache or pain. Here are some interesting facts about these drugs which are officially named non-steriodal anti-inflammitory drugs(NSAIDS).

Each Year, non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs) cause "up to 200,000 hospitalizations and 20,000 deaths."

- Frank Hamilton, M.D. (July 27, 1998)

Medical treatment for NSAID side-effects "comprise 31-40% of the total cost care for arthritis patients."

- American Journal of Medicine (December 13, 1999)

". . . only one out of five persons who have a serious GI complication will have any warning sign." It is conservatively estimated that 16,500 deaths occur in the U.S. each year from NSAID prescriptions. Considering that deaths from over-the-counder (OTC) use are not included in this figure, "these numbers are truly staggering."

- Journal of Rheumatology (April 1999)

Stomach and/or intestinal damage "can be found in approximately two of three NSAID users. . ."

- Denis McCarthy, M.D. (December 13, 1999)

NSAID-related deaths are the "15th most common cause of death in the United States." The toxic effects of NSAID's "remain largely a 'silent epidemic,' with many physicians and most patients unaware of the magnitude of the problem."

- New England Journal of Medicine (June 17, 1999)

500,000 people a year develop at least some degree of dysfunction in their kidneys from taking NSAID's.

- Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (July 1991)