It has long been known that both steroidal and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are risky in higher doses or when used long-term.
One key side effect of these medications are that they wear away the lining of the stomach and thus lead to gastric ulcers. Another is that they wear down the articular cartilage at joints. The latter is particularly ironic because one of the most common reasons for using NSAIDs is to treat joint pain.
Now a new study indicates that even smaller, shorter-term use of naproxen (best known as Aleve) increases hospitalization rates for ulcers.
It’s worth mentioning that if this particular NSAID causes this kind of problem at these doses, it is a major mistake to assume that the solution is just to switch to a different over-the-counter (OTC) NSAID.
With so many people taking these pills as a normal part of life, I want to provide a longish quote from today’s Medpage report:
Even at low doses, naproxen (Aleve, Anaprox, Naprosyn, Naprelan) may increase the risk of upper gastrointestinal complications, researchers said here.
Patients taking a 500-mg/day dose had a 2.5-fold increased risk of hospitalization from complicated gastric or duodenal ulcer, while those on the 750-mg/day dose had almost a threefold increased risk, Gurkirpal Singh, MD, of Stanford University, and colleagues reported at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting.
The 1,000-mg/day dose carried more than a threefold increased risk of hospitalization.
“We found that naproxen use is not safe even at lower doses,” Singh said. “We need to be careful about prescribing it, even in lower doses.”
The lowest doses are available over the counter.
In large studies comparing other nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and COX-2 inhibitors, naproxen has been associated with fewer serious cardiovascular risks. That led to several recommendations for naproxen to be the drug of choice for patients with heart problems, the researchers said.
