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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bleeding deaths from basic pain relievers overstated, investigation finds
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
05-30-12
May 30--One of the main arguments for putting older people with chronic, non-cancer pain on narcotic painkillers is the concern that an alternative treatment -- over-the-counter pain relievers -- can cause serious internal bleeding.
But the number that is the basis for the concern -- 16,500 deaths each year from gastrointestinal bleeding caused by the drugs -- is vastly overstated, a Journal Sentinel investigation found.
Even the researcher who first estimated the number in 1999 says it is wrong.
"That is an old number," said Gurkirpal Singh, an adjunct clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University. "That's history."
Singh said his initial calculation of 16,500 annual deaths was based on early 1990s data.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the actual number of deaths in 2008, the most recent year available, is about 3,400, based on a review of death certificates. And that number includes all gastrointestinal bleeding deaths, not just those caused by pain relievers.
Singh noted that lower doses of the nonprescription drugs are used today. And they are often taken with proton pump inhibitors such as Prilosec and Prevacid, which reduce acid in the stomach and result in less bleeding.
Nevertheless, opioid proponents continue to cite the 16,500 number.
It was brought up at the American Geriatrics Society's annual meeting in 2009, when the group announced its new guidelines recommending opioids and said the nonprescription drugs, such as ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Aleve), should be used rarely.
It is used in a presentation on the group's website as part of a continuing medical education activity funded by opioid maker Janssen Pharmaceuticals. That presentation was created by James Katz of George Washington University, who at the time was a paid consultant for opioid-maker UCB Pharma.
Katz declined to comment.
Of the 10 experts on the panel that created the 2009 guidelines, Katz and four others were paid consultants or speakers for opioid companies at the time. A sixth panel member, the chairman, was listed as a paid speaker for an opioid company the year after the guidelines came out.
Lewis Nelson, an emergency medicine and medical toxicology specialist in New York, said the 16,500 deaths attributed to the so-called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs does not seem possible.
"I could count 100 opioid-related problems for every nonsteroidal recognizable problem I see," Nelson said. "I literally don't see nonsteroidal problems, and I see tons of opioid-related problems."
Byron Cryer, a gastroenterologist at the University of Texas Southwest in Dallas, said it is wrong to overstate the risks of the nonprescription drugs.
"Anybody proposing an alternative therapy is going to peddle a worse-case scenario," said Cryer.
A paper in the American Journal of Therapeutics estimated the number of deaths tied to gastrointestinal bleeding caused by the drugs at 3,200 a year.
That paper was published in 2004 -- five years before the American Geriatrics Society issued its new guidelines.
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(c)2012 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at www.jsonline.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
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Articles featured in Life Extension Daily News are derived from a variety of news sources and are provided as a service by Life Extension. These articles, while of potential interest to readers of Life Extension Daily News, do not necessarily represent the opinions nor constitute the advice of Life Extension.
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WARNING FROM RAEL: For those who don't use their intelligence at its
full capacity, the label "selected by RAEL" on some articles does not
mean that I agree with their content or support it. "Selected by RAEL"
means that I believe it is important for the people of this planet to
know about what people think or do, even when what they think or do is
completely stupid and against our philosophy. When I selected articles
in the past about stupid Christian fundamentalists in America praying
for rain, I am sure no Rael-Science reader was stupid enough to believe
that I was supporting praying to change the weather. So, when I select
articles which are in favor of drugs, anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, racist,
revisionist, or inciting hatred against any group or religion, or any
other stupid article, it does not mean that I support them. It just
means that it is important for all human beings to know about them.
Common sense, which is usually very good among our readers, is good
enough to understand that. When, like in the recent articles on drug
decriminalization, it is necessary to make it clearer, I add a comment,
which in this case was very clear: I support decriminalizing all drugs,
as it is stupid to throw depressed and sad people (as only depressed and
sad people use drugs) in prison and ruin their life with a criminal
record. That does not mean that there is any change to the Message which
says clearly that we must not use any drug except for medical purposes.
The same applies to the freedom of expression which must be absolute.
That does not mean again of course that I agree with anti-Jews,
anti-Semites, racists of any kind or anti-Raelians. But by knowing your
enemies or the enemies of your values, you are better equipped to fight
them. With love and respect of course, and with the wonderful sentence
of the French philosopher Voltaire in mind: "I disapprove of what you
say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
full capacity, the label "selected by RAEL" on some articles does not
mean that I agree with their content or support it. "Selected by RAEL"
means that I believe it is important for the people of this planet to
know about what people think or do, even when what they think or do is
completely stupid and against our philosophy. When I selected articles
in the past about stupid Christian fundamentalists in America praying
for rain, I am sure no Rael-Science reader was stupid enough to believe
that I was supporting praying to change the weather. So, when I select
articles which are in favor of drugs, anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, racist,
revisionist, or inciting hatred against any group or religion, or any
other stupid article, it does not mean that I support them. It just
means that it is important for all human beings to know about them.
Common sense, which is usually very good among our readers, is good
enough to understand that. When, like in the recent articles on drug
decriminalization, it is necessary to make it clearer, I add a comment,
which in this case was very clear: I support decriminalizing all drugs,
as it is stupid to throw depressed and sad people (as only depressed and
sad people use drugs) in prison and ruin their life with a criminal
record. That does not mean that there is any change to the Message which
says clearly that we must not use any drug except for medical purposes.
The same applies to the freedom of expression which must be absolute.
That does not mean again of course that I agree with anti-Jews,
anti-Semites, racists of any kind or anti-Raelians. But by knowing your
enemies or the enemies of your values, you are better equipped to fight
them. With love and respect of course, and with the wonderful sentence
of the French philosopher Voltaire in mind: "I disapprove of what you
say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
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"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history,
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
Rael
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