I avoid nonsteroidal inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) because they impair healing. Now a new study from a prestigious journal shows that two of the most common, ibuprofen (advil, motrin) and Celexobid (Celebrex)greatly increased the failure rate after surgical rotator cuff repair. Ibuprofen increased it 75% and Celebrex increased it nine-fold!, i.e. more than 900%!!
Topical ice or cold pads are our preferred methods to relieve pain after surgery or after PRP or stem cell injections: but never directly on the skin.
As the accompanying picture shows, when ice is applied directly to the skin a burn can result. This patient injured her knee and applied ice directly to the skin. A mild burn resulted. She then bumped her knee resulting in a superficial skin breakdown. Her skin is healing well but we counsel our patients that ice should always be applied over a cloth.
Yes you read that correctly. A new study from McMaster University found an increased death rate in all users of prescription anti-depressants. This is particularly alarming because these drugs are everywhere, with an almost unbelievable estimated rate of 1 in 8 adults in America now taking them. They also found that the increased death rate, a staggering 33% in patients without cardiovascular disease, was less pronounced in patients with cardiovascular disease, possibly because these drugs have a blood thinning effect. They conclude “The results support the hypothesis that ADs (Anti-Depressants) are harmful in the general population but less harmful in cardiovascular patients.” A recent Newsmax report also states “critics suggest that many people taking anti-depressants may not actually need them, with scientific studies showing psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and other treatment approaches are as effective as drugs, or more so. But doctors routinely prescribe the pills because of long waiting lists for therapy.”
The FDA has warned for more than a decade that anti-depressant drugs cause an increased risk of suicidal thinking, feeling, and behavior in people under the age of 25. But now a new study from Sweden has correlated increased use of anti-depressants with an increase in “completed” suicides, ie deaths. The researchers conclude “The previous assumptions that treatment with antidepressants would lead to a drastic reduction in suicide rates, are incorrect for the population of young women. On the contrary, it was found that an increasing tendency of completed suicides follow the increased prescription of antidepressants.”
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT PRIOR ANTIBIOTIC USE IMPAIRED SUBSEQUENT IMMUNE CELL FUNCTION IN CHILDREN. They first noticed that amebic colitis, a potentially fatal illness, was more severe in Bangladeshi children who had altered gut bacteria, usually occurring from prior antibiotic use. They then studied the problem in mice and found that antibiotic use impaired the ability of white blood cells to fight infection. The message is to only use antibiotics when they are necessary because their use can actually make subsequent infections worse.
