It is pretty common for a person in the United States to take a pain pill for various aches. Doctors have known for many years that taking NSAIDs/ analgesic pain killing drugs puts people at risk for a number of serious side-effects. One of those side effects is what is known as end-stage renal disease. What that means is your kidneys have totally failed and you have to go get dialysis on a regular basis.
How bad is the risk? According to the New England Journal of Medicine, if you take 1000 pills of acetaminophen (Tylenol) in your lifetime, you will increase your risk of total kidney failure by 100 to 220%. For those who take 5000 or more pills in their lifetime, the risk of kidney failure goes up 8.8 times! While that sounds like an astronomical intake, it is just one pill every 3 days during the life of an average adult.
Many of you have been to Costco and seen the large bottles of Tylenol there which contain hundreds of pills. 2 or 3 bottles of this seemingly innocent pain killer may result in more than you bargain for.
In this short blog, we discussed over the counter pain medications and their impact on your kidneys. Other serious side effects include gastrointestinal problems and liver damage or even liver failure. It is much easier and smarter to try and protect our liver and kidneys as opposed to having to replace them!
As a chiropractor, I know that there are many safer alternatives for relief of pain. Simple things like ice packs or plant based nutritional support may help. Chiropractic care to relief pressure on soft tissues and reduce inflammation of joints or even acupuncture care can all help with pain syndromes.
