Drug Combo Eases Stomach Upset in Arthritis Patients

Filed in archive Treatment on May 7, 2006

Dyspepsia, a stomach upset, is the most common side effect of pain medications. In arthritis patients, according to UCLA/VA researchers, in order to effective prevent dyspepsia, they should take a combination of two drugs: for example Naproxen (anti-inflammatory) in combination with Prevacid (acid-reducing). Such, may prove more effective than taking a Cox-2 inhibitor alone like Celecoxib.

Researchers found that compared to taking an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory by itself, a Cox-2 inhibitor taken alone reduced dyspepsia occurrence by 12 percent. An anti-inflammatory taken with an acid-reducing drug together, however, lowered incidence of dyspepsia by 66 percent.

"The drug combination was significantly more effective in reducing dyspepsia and may prove to be the preferred treatment for arthritis patients at high risk for stomach problems," said Spiegel, assistant professor of medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.

This study is published recently at The American Journal of Medicine.

Read more at UCLA News.