In a recent article I read on theconversation.edu.au, it was reported that “In 2010, the promotion of the Nurofen range of products “targeting” migraine, back pain, tension headache and period pain was awarded a CHOICE shonky award.”
The take home message of their review was that the different flavours of Nurofen claim to ‘target’ specific sites all contain the exact same active ingredient (Ibuprofen) in the exact same dosage. And there has been no research to prove that Ibuprofen specifically acts at one point rather than another.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in …

Following on from my last article on the risks associated with the use of common over the counter anti-inflammatory medications, I wanted to see what the other options were and more importantly, how effective they are. I found an article which compared the results of 47 different studies on the effectiveness of different forms of ‘non tablet’ anti-inflammatories, ie gels, sprays, and creams. The attraction of these options is that there are none of the associated systemic adverse events.
The results of 47 studies were included. In these studies, the gels/creams/sprays …

It was quite an alarming series of headlines last week as news broke of a large scale analysis of the risks associated with the use of common over the counter anti-inflammatory medications. “Common painkillers linked to heart disease” reported The Australian, along with “The findings confirm that drugs such as Nurofen and Voltaren can significantly increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.”
Previous studies have examined these medications mostly on an individual basis, but this study tried to compare their relative risks, in short it asked the question “which NSAID is …

Clearly this article was written by a guy – you can feel the lack of commitment straight away in the title – tai chi may help reduce knee pain. The reason I’m posting this article is because it combines information from a few other posts, and I love it when various we get various sources supporting each other.
Previously I posted a piece on the correlation of the findings on medical imaging to pain and dysfunction. What that article said was that having osteoarthritis does not necessarily mean you get pain/poor …

Read 2 studies recently on arthritis that I thought you might find interesting. The first is one on the effect of chondroitin on knee arthritis. Now, anecdotally, I hear from people that they find chondroitin to be effective for knees quite regularly, a lot more than they say it about other joints – hip or lower back for example. They found the people taking chondroitin had significantly less joint degradation , the people taking chondroitin experienced pain relief significantly faster than the placebo group, and it’s safe—“No differences in safety between groups”.
In the 2nd …