Aspirin, ibuprofen, diclofenac, piroxicam, and naproxen. Painkillers such as these are known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
These are the most commonly used drugs worldwide to treat pain and inflammation. The use of NSAIDs is routine therapy for arthritis and many other musculoskeletal disorders, as well as many other inflammatory conditions such as sinusitis, prostatitis and cystitis. Most NSAIDs can be safely used for two to three days, and many are sold as OTC drugs with reduced recommended dosages. Obviously, instances occur when the use of these drugs is the best course of action. No one is calling into question their value in appropriate situations.

However, using these drugs instead of and without trying our alternatives is due to lack of healing insight; although these drugs are anti-inflammatories; they do not stimulate healing. When these drugs are used for longer periods, virtually all patients suffer some complications, which can range
from micro-bleeding and ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract to liver or kidney toxicity. In a sense “the cat has been let out of the bag.” More
than 20,000 Americans per year die from complications resulting from NSAID therapy. This is particularly true for the elderly, and for anyone with a history of peptic ulcers. In any given year, it’s estimated that six percent of patients taking NSAIDs will get into serious trouble, requiring hospitalization.
This fact was underscored again in December 1998 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the new arthritis pain-killer, Celebrex, the
first in a long-awaited new type of painkiller for millions of arthritis sufferers that is said to be safe on the stomach. Initial sales reports on Celebrex show it surpassed Viagra in sales during its first month. Yet, amidst all of the hype, the FDA cautioned its stomach safe benefits may have been overplayed. Celebrex will bear the same warning about side-effects as many of today’s standard painkillers.

Indeed, most recently Celebrex was linked to 10 deaths and 11 cases of gastrointestinal hemorrhage in its first three months on the market, according to a recent report in The Associated Press. Half of the 10 people who died suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding or ulcers, according to reports submitted to the FDA that were obtained by The Wall Street Journal under the Freedom of Information Act. Two other deaths were attributed to heart attacks, one to drug interaction, one to a kidney disorder and one with no cause of death listed. Another related painkiller is rofecoxib (Vioxx).

The Anovite Colostrum Option

Becauseirritation to the stomach lining is commonly associated with this broad family of drugs many informed doctors now recommend that consumers
also take Anovite Colostrum. Two important recent studies demonstrate how highly beneficial supplemental bovine colostrum can be for anyone
using NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen and other similar medications. In an experimental study to examine whether colostrum could reduce gastrointestinal injury caused by indomethacin, researchers administered the NSAID indomethacin together with colostrum. As noted in the May 1999 issue of the journal Gut, pretreatment with colostrum reduced gastric injury by 30 to 60 percent. Addition of colostrum to drinking water also
prevented villi shortening in the mouse model of small intestinal injury. (Damage to villi, which are minute fingershaped projections of the mucous membrane of the small intestine that serve in the absorption of nutrients, is an early sign of NSAID damage.) “Bovine colostrum could provide a
novel, inexpensive approach for the prevention and treatment of the injurious effects of NSAIDs on the gut and may also be of value for the treatment of other ulcerative conditions of the bowel,” they note.

In a more recent study, researchers examined whether bovine colostrum could reduce the rise in gut permeability (a non-invasive marker of intestinal injury) caused by NSAIDs in volunteers and patients taking NSAIDs for clinical reasons. Seven healthy male volunteers participated in a randomized
crossover trial comparing changes in gut permeability before and after five days of 50 mg of indomethacin three times daily together with colostrum or a placebo. In volunteers, indomethacin caused a three-fold increase in gut permeability in the placebo group, whereas no significant increase in permeability was seen when colostrum was co-administered. This study provides “preliminary evidence that bovine colostrum, which is already currently available as an over-the- counter preparation, may provide a novel approach to the prevention of NSAID-induced gastrointestinal damage in
humans,” say the researchers.