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Some OTC Pain Meds Linked to Heart Disease
Most of us pop an OTC pain reliever from time to time for a rough headache, cramps, or sore muscles—and think nothing of it. But regularly taking high doses of NSAIDs, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, can pose serious health risks, according to a recent large international study published in the journal The Lancet.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 600 trials. They found that people who take high, daily doses of NSAIDs—such as ibuprofen (like Motrin and Advil)—have a higher chance of heart attack or death from heart disease. The only NSAID that didn’t seem to increase patients’ heart-related health risks were naproxens (like Aleve). However, naproxens and the other NSAIDs were associated with an increased risk of upper gastrointestinal complications, such as bleeding from ulcers.
Many of the people who take these very high doses on a daily basis are treating rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, says Marie R. Griffin, MD, MPH, a professor of preventive medicine and medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, who wrote a commentary on the study, which was also published in The Lancet. If you take a standard dose of ibuprofen once or twice a month during your period or the day after a crazy-challenging cycling class, you should be fine: For young, healthy people, taking an OTC NSAID as recommended on the bottle for a short period of time is probably safe, she says.
If, however, you find you’re taking them on the regular, you should talk to your doctor about whether this is a good idea—or you’d be better off treating your pain in some other way. “They’re really adjuncts for pain, and most people don’t need to be on these drugs every day,” says Griffin.
photo: BW Folsom/Shutterstock
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Calcium Supplements Linked to Lower Mortality Risk
A few months ago, Women’s Health reported that excessive calcium consumption was linked to a higher risk of mortality. New research now provides more insight on the subject: In a study recently accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, researchers report that taking calcium supplements—up to 1,000 mg a day—is linked with lower mortality risk.
A research team from McGill University in Canada analyzed health data from more than 9,000 people that participated in the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study—though not all of the participants actually had osteoporosis. To get the skinny on calcium supplement consumption, researchers interviewed participants in person every five years and also asked them to fill out a yearly questionnaire about which medications and supplements they were taking.
The women who reported using calcium supplements—up to 1,000 mg per day—had about a 20 percent reduced risk of dying at some point during the 10-year study. Higher doses, however, led to inconclusive results.
That’s in line with research published a few months ago that found women with a calcium intake exceeding 1,400 mg per day increased their mortality risk by 100 percent, compared to those who kept their intake between 600 and 999 mg.
All of this evidence points to the fact that the RDA for calcium—1,000 mg per day for women between the ages of 19 and 50—is in fact the best amount to aim for, says David Goltzman, MD, of McGill University.
The latest research suggests that taking calcium supplements can be a safe way to up your intake—so long as you don’t exceed 1,000 mg per day from both supplements and dietary calcium.
That said, it’s always best not to rely on supplements to meet your nutritional needs. In fact, researchers found similar reductions in the risk of mortality when people increased their dietary calcium intake, as well.
“The most appropriate way to meet your calcium needs is through your diet,” says Goltzman. “If, however, you cannot meet your average daily requirement of calcium, there would be no harm—with respect to increased death—to consume calcium supplements up to 1,000 mg per day.”
These calcium-rich foods will help you get more of the nutrient—without having to resort to a supplement:
The ingredient: Milk or calcium-fortified soy milk
Calcium content: 299 mg per 8-ounce serving (30 percent DV)
Recipe idea: Greek-Style Frittata
Photo: Craig Cutler
The Ingredient: Plain, nonfat yogurt (note: Greek yogurt has less calcium)
Calcium content: 415 mg per 8-ounce serving (42 percent DV)
Recipe idea: Blueberry Yogurt Parfait
Photo: Catherine Sears
The Ingredient: White beans
Calcium content: 96 mg per ½-cup serving (9 percent DV)
Recipe idea: Tuscan Spinach Dumplings with White Beans
Photo: Quentin Bacon
The ingredient: Kale
Calcium content: 100 mg per 1-cup serving (10 percent DV)
Recipe idea: Kale and Cannellini Beans
Photo: Mitch Mandel
Plus, check out 9 other awesome kale recipes.
The ingredient: Almonds
Calcium content: 75 mg per 1-ounce serving (7 percent DV)
Recipe idea: Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Radicchio
Photo: Kang Kim
Photo: Liquidlibrary/Thinkstock
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18 Self-Checks Every Woman Should Do
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Some Birth Control Linked to Pain During Sex
Birth control pills come with a whole lot of perks. But, as with any medication, women on the pill may also experience some side effects, including this potential one: Low-dose birth control pills may put you at higher risk for both chronic pelvic pain syndrome and pain during sex, according to new research presented last week at the American Urological Association’s annual meeting.
Lead author Nirit Rosenblum, MD, an assistant professor in the urology department at New York University Langone Medical Center, noticed a number of young women coming into her practice over the years who complained of varying pelvic pain symptoms—vaginal pain, pain in the lower part of the abdomen, “anything sort of below the belly button,” says Rosenblum. The common thread with these patients: Many of them were on low-dose birth control pills.
So Rosenblum and her colleagues set up an anonymous survey of more than 900 women ages 18 to 39 to investigate. The women on the low-dose pills were significantly more likely to fit the criteria for chronic pelvic pain syndrome than the women who weren’t on birth control pills or even those who were on normal-dose pills. And they were also much more likely to report pain during or after orgasm than either of the other two groups.
This survey only showed a link between the low-dose pills and pelvic pain, not causation. But if the low-dose pills are behind the pain, Rosenblum says it might be because of a dose-dependent mechanism: Women on low-dose pills have especially low levels of estrogen (women on normal-dose pills also have lower estrogen levels than those not on the Pill, but not quite as low as women on low-dose pills), so those low estrogen levels might somehow be coming into play here. The bottom line: More research needs to be done to understand why this higher incidence of pelvic pain may be happening, says Rosenblum.
If you’re currently on a low-dose pill and experiencing these symptoms, Rosenblum says the first thing you need to do is talk to your doctor, who will work with you to rule out other explanations for the discomfort. If the signs are pointing toward your pill, alternative options include going off of it, trying a higher-dose pill, or switching to a different birth control method.
Rosenblum says she doesn’t think these pelvic pain symptoms are dangerous, but that it’s important for patients to be aware of the link. “When you’re given any medication, you have to understand the potential side effects so that you can be a self advocate,” says Rosenblum. “You have to decide if the benefit of taking the medication is worth either the risk involved or the potential side effects, which may not be risky, but can affect quality of life.”
photo: Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock
More from Women’s Health:
Need-to-Know Birth Control Info
The FDA Approves OTC Plan B One-Step
Great News About IUDs
ALERT: Popular Energy Drink Linked to Five Deaths
This Monday, the FDA announced an investigation into five deaths and a heart attack allegedly tied to consumption of Monster Energy drink.
The investigation was launched after the death of a 14-year-old girl, who died of a heart attack due to caffeine toxicity after drinking two 24-ounce cans of Monster Energy, which together contain 480 milligrams of caffeine. That’s the caffeine equivalent of 14 cans of Coke.
“In moderate levels, caffeine is not harmful,” says Keri Peterson, M.D., physician on the Women’s Health advisory board. Even in not-so-moderate levels, caffeinated beverages typically aren’t deadly. Death from caffeine toxicity is rare, with toxic levels estimated to fall between 150 and 200 milligrams per kilogram of body weight—that’s about 50 cups of coffee for a 150-pound woman, consumed in a very short period of time.
But because energy drinks are considered dietary supplements, their contents aren’t currently FDA regulated.
“Many of these drinks not only have very high caffeine levels, but they also combine them with other herbs that contain caffeine such as guarana and yerba mate, which can cause significant side effects,” Peterson says.
While the FDA isn’t certain whether Monster Energy drinks were the direct cause of the reported deaths, or whether preexisting conditions, alcohol, or drugs played a role, there were more than 13,000 emergency department visits related to consumption of energy drinks in 2009—up nearly tenfold since 2005, according to a 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report.
In light of this alarming stat, one thing’s for sure: it can’t hurt to be more mindful of your caffeine consumption. While your caffeine tolerance depends on your size and current consumption habits, the American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs recommends no more than 250 mg of caffeine, or about three 8-oz cups of coffee, a day.
And if you really want to avoid common caffeine side effects such as sleeplessness, jitters, irritability, headaches, and nervousness, Peterson recommends no more than 200 mg of caffeine a day. Top that, and you could suffer from a host of even more serious health issues: a Polish study presented by the European Society of Hypertension in 2012 found that subjects who drank an energy drink containing 360 mg of caffeine developed anxiety and insomnia, with significant increases in heart rate and blood pressure compared to a control group that took placebos, and participants who took energy drinks with just 120 mg of caffeine. (Find out more about how caffeine effects your bod.)
Another study found that consuming over 200 mg of caffeine can lead to a blood pressure spike of up to 14 points, putting you at heighten risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure, and more especially if you already have high blood pressure. For these reasons, Peterson recommends that those with high blood pressure steer clear of caffeine altogether.
Finally, check the chart below to help you put a cap on your daily intake of caffeine.
|
Beverage |
Standard serving (oz.) |
Caffeine Content (mg) |
|
Mega Monster Energy |
24 |
240 |
|
Red Bull |
8.3 |
80 |
|
5-Hour Energy |
1.93 |
207 |
|
Espresso |
2 |
30-90 |
|
Brewed Coffee |
8 |
102-200 |
|
Brewed Tea |
8 |
40-120 |
|
Bottled iced tea |
16 |
10-100 |
|
Soft drink |
12 |
71 or less |
|
Coffee-flavored ice cream |
8 |
50-84 |
|
Dark chocolate bar |
1.45 |
31 |
|
Hershey’s Chocolate Bar |
1.55 |
9 |
|
Excedrin (Extra Strength) |
2 tablets |
130 |
|
NoDoz (Maximum Strength) |
1 tablet |
200 |
Source: Center for Science in the Public Interest
photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock
More from WH:
4 New Energy Drinks: Should You Chug Them?
The Truth About Energy Drinks
The Surprising Perks of Coffee Drinks
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