Pain relievers could make knee arthritis worse, study suggests
BOSTON - If you have knee arthritis and you have been taking over-the-counter drugs like ibuprofen for years, you may want to cut back.
NSAIDs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs include medications like ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) and naproxen (Aleve), and millions of Americans take them for the long-term treatment of arthritis pain.
But a new study out of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) examined 277 people with moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee who had taken NSAIDs for at least a year and found that joint inflammation and cartilage quality over time were worse in these patients compared to those not treated with NSAIDs.
It's not clear why.
More research is needed. But if you're taking these medications for your knee pain, talk to your doctor about whether you should just take them periodically and not routinely.
