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What do Prozac and NSAIDs Have in Common? You Don't Want to Know
The evidence has mounted yet again
regarding the need for doctors to wise up about the side effects of drugs when
prescribing medications to their patients.
Why? According to a study, taking
selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac and Paxil can cause
acute gastrointestinal bleeding similar to that prompted by aspirin and related
painkillers.
The Study
Researchers reviewed the medical records
of some 550 patients admitted to hospitals for acute gastrointestinal bleeding
and found that continual use of the antidepressants in question were responsible
for a risk of bleeding similar to that caused by ongoing use of non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as:
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Aspirin
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Ibuprofen
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Naproxen
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In defense, the company that makes
Prozac, Eli Lilly, argued the possibility of bleeding was a potential side
effect already listed and that patients were cautioned about it in information
that accompanied the medication.
Yet despite the argument, the reality
remains: Gastrointestinal bleeding from NSAIDS is responsible for an alarming
16,000 deaths in the United States each year. Will SSRIs boost that statistic?
MSNBC May 16, 2005
Link to article
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