STOMACH PROBLEMS
Pain Drugs and the Stomach
Nowadays, most of the drugs used for arthritis and other types of moderate pain are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a group of agents that includes aspirin as well. While effective in relieving pain, NSAIDs are “two-edged swords” that cause a lot of side effects including even gastric ulcers in possibly up to 20 percent of patients who take them regularly for a long time.
Fortunately, the American Family Physician (32#4:275) reports, there is a new NSAID that is much less likely than all the others to injure the stomach. Named Salsalate, it is chemically very similar to aspirin, but lacks that acetic acid part of the molecule which makes aspirin so irritating to the stomach. Nonetheless, Salsalate is probably just as effective.
People who fail to respond to it will have to use one of the other NSAIDs. If in doing so they are likely to have a gastric problem, the stomach can be protected with an additional drug, such as Ranitidine, taken simultaneously to prevent acid secretion.
Coca-Cola and Stomach Acid
By drinking Coca-Cola, we significantly increase the amount of acid in the stomach and duodenum, the parts of the gastrointestinal tract that are most prone to ulceration, the journal Gut (25:386) reports. This could seriously interfere with the healing of peptic ulcers, could be responsible for their relapses and, the report suggests, may even predispose us to the development of ulcers.
In view of these findings, ulcer patients should avoid Coca-Cola. It may also be wise for people who have a peptic ulcer to avoid the many similar soft drinks, which could possibly have the same effect.
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