Amerika

Another day, another “modern miracle” goes down in flames as it turns out that like insurance, modern meds may simply be a loan that becomes due later with greater pain.

On the chopping block today are Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) which sound like a hybrid between National Socialism and 1980s bathhouse culture, but in fact are the drugs like aspirin, Tylenol, and Advil which many of us depend on to rid ourselves of routine pains and headaches.

Unfortunately, they can make you deaf, as a recent study found:

Regular use of each analgesic was independently associated with an increased risk of hearing loss.

The data have been piling up on these drugs for some time. For example, we know that they wreck your digestive system with heavy use:

We prospectively included 60 patients who had been taking NSAIDs continuously for more than 3 months and exhibited obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (number UMIN 000011775). Small intestinal mucosal injuries were assessed by capsule endoscopy (CE), and reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) levels and oxidant capacity (OXY) adsorbent test were performed to investigate the relevance of oxidative stress balance. More than half of the patients (N = 32, 53%) had small intestinal mucosal injuries by CE, and 14 patients (24%) had ulcers. The incidence of ulcers was relatively higher in nonaspirin users.

Other data suggests that starving your brain of blood may accelerate dementia and set you on course to be one of those zombies in the sleep homes that they are always feeding overboiled green beans:

Considering the biological effects that we do know most about (inhibition of cyclooxygenase [COX]-1 and -2), the most probable explanation for NSAID-induced cognitive impairment would be that NSAIDs reduce the blood flow to, and within, the brain.

Long-term treatment is associated with a 70% increased risk of developing dementia including Alzheimer’s.

Humanity may be a classic case of having enough knowledge to get itself in trouble, but not enough for a detailed understanding of our own bodies or our world, which remains beyond the ken of our puny little narcissistic brains.

Tags: dementia, medicine, NSAIDs