NSAIDs Revisited

A Medscape interview with Dr. McCarberg, a board member of the Alliance for the Rational Use of NSAIDs, in April 2014 was an interesting review of how dangerous NSAIDs are. They've been associated with cardiovascular disease and gastrointestinal disease, including liver disease, as well as kidney damage. Many athletes pop them as if they were candy and somehow would help prevent pain during an athletic event or help in healing. Here is what Dr. McCarberg has to say about that: 

I recently looked into use of NSAIDs by athletes, and the number of high school, college, and professional athletes who use NSAIDs regularly to help with muscle aches and pains from competition is astounding. And potentially hazardous. These agents have never been proven to help with those muscle aches. Gastrointestinal issues can be significant, because you don't necessarily eat before an event. Athletes get dehydrated in an event, and with dehydration, there is more risk to the kidney. Now you put an NSAID on top of that, increasing renal risk. It's interesting that even our healthy athletes are using NSAIDs. There are side effects even in the group that you would think is the healthiest in our society.

I've written articles about NSAIDs and athletes and have pointed out how they inhibit healing.