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Common pain killer ineffective for back ache: Study

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Commonly used pain killers, such as ibuprofen, provide little benefits against back ache and cause side effects such as stomach ulcers and bleeding, a new study has warned.

Researchers at The George Institute for Global Health in Australia found only one in six patients treated with the pills, also known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), achieve any significant reduction in pain.

Earlier research has already demonstrated paracetamol is ineffective and opioids provide minimal benefit over placebo.

The study highlights an urgent need to develop new therapies to treat back pain which affects 80 per cent of Australians during their lifetime, said Manuela Ferreira, associate professor at The George Institute for Global Health.

“Back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and is commonly managed by prescribing medicines such as anti-inflammatories,” said Ferreira.

“However our results show anti-inflammatory drugs actually only provide very limited short term pain relief. They do reduce the level of pain, but only very slightly, and arguably not of any clinical significance,” said Ferreira.

“When you factor in the side effects which are very common, it becomes clear that these drugs are not the answer to providing pain relief to the many millions of Australians who suffer from this debilitating condition every year,” Ferreira added.

Researchers, who examined 35 trials involving more than 6,000 people, also found patients taking anti-inflammatories were 2.5 times more likely to suffer from gastro-intestinal problems such as stomach ulcers and bleeding.

“Millions of Australians are taking drugs that not only do not work very well, they are causing harm. We need treatments that will actually provide substantial relief of these people’s symptoms,” said Gustavo Machado from The George Institute.

“Better still we need a stronger focus on preventing back pain in the first place. We know that education and exercise programs can substantially reduce the risk of developing low back pain,” he said.

Most clinical guidelines currently recommend NSAIDs as the second line analgesics after paracetamol, with opioids coming at third choice.

The study was published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/common-pain-killer-ineffective-for-back-ache-study/articleshow/57017655.cms

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Study says skinny legs may up death risk by 300 per cent

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Lean people who are metabolically unhealthy, but have normal weight, might be at a 300 per cent greater chance of dying. This is in contrast to the small proportion of obese people who despite their high body mass index are metabolically healthy.


If you have a lean body shape with normal body mass index but with skinny lower legs, you may be at three fold increased risk of dying from cardio metabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease, a research has claimed.

According to the study, lean people who are metabolically unhealthy, but have normal weight, might be at a 300 per cent greater chance of dying. This is in contrast to the small proportion of obese people who despite their high body mass index (BMI) are metabolically healthy, said Norbert Stefan, Professor at the University of Tubingen in Germany. And for this group, the risk of death from all-cause mortality is only 25 per cent higher than that of healthy lean people, Stefan added.

The results showed that among lean people, skinny lower legs may prove to be the strongest predictor of poor metabolic health, while for obese people, abdominal fat levels and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are strong predictors of cardiometabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease.


In lean people, a gene-derived problem of storing fat in the lower limbs may be a crucial factor, placing them at an increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases, Stefan said. For the study, detailed in the journal Cell Metabolism, the team analysed data from 981 subjects. After having defined metabolic health as having less than two risk parameters of the metabolic syndrome, they found that 18 per cent of their lean subjects were metabolically unhealthy.


Using magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy, they determined body fat mass, fat distribution and deposition of fat in the liver. Further, they also determined insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion, thickness of the carotid vessel wall and fitness. Such unhealthy lean but normal BMI phenotype body shape also resembled people with certain rare diseases such as lipodystrophy in which the body is unable to sustain adequate fat reserves.
The findings provide evidence for the existence of a “lipodystrophy-like phenotype in the general population”, the researchers noted.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/study-says-skinny-legs-may-up-death-risk-by-300-4780248/

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