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| that even small doses of aspirin can cause high or irregular pulse rates, swelling from fluid retention and albumin in the urine. Other side effects include nervousness, confusion, internal bleeding and the destruction of vitamin C in the body. Overdoses are fatal. Aspirin does not prevent, cure, reverse or slow the progress of arthritis, rheumatism, gout, ankylos-ing spondylitis, bursitis, neuritis, neuralgia or any other inflammatory illnesses; all it does is suppress pain temporarily. |
| Aspirin is one of several drugs called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. These include ibuprofen, indomethacin, naproxen, piroxicam, phe-nylbutazone, sulindac and tolmetin. Like aspirin, these NSAIDs relieve pain and stiffness in many patients but they do not heal inflammation. Their side effects are numerous and often debilitating. One study showed that NSAIDs kill 2,600 rheumatoid arthritis patients per year and require 20,000 to be hospitalized. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) attributes 10,000 to 20,000 deaths and an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 cases of gastrointestinal bleeding to their use every year. |
| Cortisone drugs are also widely prescribed for inflammatory diseases because they bring almost miraculous improvement to painful joints. Once considered a medical miracle, drugs such as predni-sone, hydrocortisone, dexamethasone and other corti-costeroids offer short term relief but their side effects include peptic ulcers, heart disease, osteoporosis and spontaneous fractures, mental disturbances, high |
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