Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Ibuprofen ‘could prolong backache’
Doubts over NHS treatment
PATIENTS taking anti-inflammatory drugs for backache are at higher risk of suffering chronic pain than those taking paracetamol, a study found.
Scientists think the inflammation that pills such as Ibuprofen reduces actually has a protective effect that helps resolve back pain.
Their study found that patients on anti-inflammatories were 76% more likely to suffer pain for longer than three months than those taking paracetamol.
The NHS currently recommends a treatment of Ibuprofen, cold compression and remaining active. And people suffering back pain have been warned against changing their medication until large clinical trials are launched to test the new theory.
The study team, led by Dr Luda Diatchenko, of Mcgill University, in Montreal, Canada, followed 98 people with lower back pain and found that for those with a highly active inflammatory response it cleared up within three months.
They then analysed a UK database of 500,000 participants and found the risk of lasting pain was 76% higher for those taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Ibuprofen than those taking pain-relief with no anti-inflammatory ingredient.
A third study involving mice found anti-inflammatory drugs prolonged pain in the long term.
Prof Blair Smith, of the University of Dundee, said: “This is excellent science.
“Researchers not only found factors associated with the normal inflammatory response were likely to protect people with acute back pain from transition to chronic back pain, but also tested the hypothesis by seeing if artificial reduction of inflammation led to prolonged pain in mice, which it did.
“Inflammation may have a protective effect in the longterm, and reducing inflammation may be harmful.” Dr Franziska Denk, of King’s College London, said: “It would be premature to make any recommendations regarding medication until we have the results of a prospective clinical trial. More research is needed.”