The National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said that the regular use of painkillers especially, paracetamols could lead to heart attacks, stroke and early death, The Guardian reports.
According to a study published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases journal, patients prescribed high doses of the painkiller for long periods were 63% more likely to die unexpectedly.
There
is also a 68% higher chance of having a heart attack or stroke and an
almost 50% greater chance of having a stomach ulcer or bleed.
Generally,
Paracetamol is considered by doctors to be safer than Aspirin, which
can cause stomach bleeds, and ibuprofen, which has also been linked to
heart attacks and strokes.
But in 2013, NAFDAC and
the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had alerted
Nigerians that Paracetamol had been associated with risk of rare but
serious skin reactions known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS), Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN), and Acute Generalised Exanthematous Pustulosis (AGEP) which can be fatal.
To
this end, NAFDAC encouraged patients to report such cases to their
health care provider, who will channel the complaint to the National Pharmacovigilance Centre, even
as British researchers say the risks may have been underestimated and
are calling for a major review to be conducted into the drug’s safety.
Meanwhile, Philip Conaghan
who led an extensive research conducted on patients who took
Paracetamol daily observing its effects advised that patients being
prescribed the drugs for long periods for arthritis or muscle and joint
pain should talk to their doctors about alternative treatments, such as
exercise.
pulse.ng
