JOIN USIndiscriminate use of painkillers is known to increase the risk of kidney and liver dysfunction, stomach ulcers, allergies, resistance to drugs as well as stroke and heart attacks, warns Dr Upendra Kaul
Do you frequently use common painkillers such as aspirin or ibuprofen (without prescription) to treat everyday stomach aches, frequent migraine headaches or joint pains? Have you been doing it for years? If yes, you might be inadvertently raising your risk of several diseases including heart attack and stroke.
From headaches to cramps and runner’s knees, painkillers provide relief to a variety of daily aches. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) also reduce inflammation and fever and provide rather quick relief. People with sinus infections, migraines, arthritis and associated joint pains, backaches or cramps, especially menstruating women, resort to painkillers as a quick means of relief.
Easy availability
Since they are available over-the-counter (OTC) without prescriptions, many people tend to believe that they are completely safe and can be consumed at will. This is a misperception and the ensuing indiscriminate use may cause several health hazards. Popping a painkiller or two once in a while is absolutely fine. In fact, doctors themselves prescribe NSAIDs to patients for short-term usage. However, what becomes problematic is their persistent use over a long period of time.
There is a high usage of OTC drugs on a daily basis which sometimes amounts to indiscriminate use. As such the OTC market is not well regulated in India and a number of painkillers, stimulants or even anti-depressants are available freely in the market. Sometimes, patients become addicted to these pills.
At other times, they continue popping them up regularly for pain relief for years without realising the side effects or that they may be damaging their internal systems. Excessive, long-term use of painkillers and other pills is associated with increased risk of kidney and liver dysfunction, stomach ulcers, allergies, resistance to drugs as well as stroke and heart attacks.
Earlier this year, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) issued guidelines on pain-killers and OTC drugs, advocating against the prolonged and unprescribed usage, lest it causes more harm than good. IMA clearly stated against the common perception that drugs like paracetamol or aspirin can be consumed for pain or fever without consulting a doctor.
Over the years, several studies have established links between indiscriminate usage of OTC drugs and health complications over time. A wide scale Dutch study published in British Medical Journal in 2014, and conducted over 8,000 people during a period of 13 years, concluded that common painkillers doubled the risk of atrial fibrillation or irregular heartbeat.
Yet, awareness regarding this practice of self-medication is abysmally low in India, even among educated people. In people living with arthritis, this concern is overwhelming. Arthritis translates into daily pain, often excruciating in joints and muscles. Over years, arthritis patients tend to consume humongous amounts of painkillers, augmenting their risk of kidney failure, heart attack or stroke.
Another vital question is whether common NSAIDs are over-prescribed in the absence to local population-based studies in India? Perhaps they are. Even medical practitioners must be extremely cautious and careful in prescribing common painkillers and stick to kidney and heart-safe drugs.
(The author is executive director & dean, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre And Fortis Hospital, Delhi)