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Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs are among the most widely used pain killers in the world. In the United States, more than 70 million prescriptions for NSAIDs are written each year.

If you include over-the-counter (OTC) NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and aspirin, more than
30 billion doses of NSAIDs are used annually1 to relieve pain associated with everything from backaches and headaches to menstrual and rheumatoid arthritis pain.

NSAIDs work primarily by inhibiting your body’s ability to synthesize prostaglandins, which are hormone-like chemicals made in response to cell injury. Unfortunately, many are completely unaware that these medications can actually cause very serious harm.

Stomach upset, nausea, and vomiting are among the most common side effects, but numerous studies have linked NSAIDs to far more adverse effects, including death.2 According to a 1998 study published in the
American Journal of Medicine:3

“Conservative calculations estimate that approximately 107,000 patients are hospitalized annually for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-related gastrointestinal (GI) complications and at least 16,500 NSAID-related deaths occur each year among arthritis patients alone. The figures of all NSAID users would be overwhelming, yet the scope of this problem is generally under-appreciated.”