Being on Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

Abstract

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including low-dose aspirin, are very frequently prescribed in older patients in order to palliate or prevent age-related degenerative joint diseases or cardiovascular events. From the perspective of the gastrointestinal system, their most frequent serious adverse effect is hemorrhage from gastric or duodenal ulcers, occurring overall in about 0.5-2.0% per patient year of continuous use. Much more common are gastric erosions-at least a few will be found in most patients if an endoscopy is performed-but these usually heal uneventfully and are normally asymptomatic. Dyspepsia is a common side-effect but there is little correlation with the macrosco..