Oxy & Arthritis

Doctors are turning to OxyContin and similar painkillers to treat arthritis and other conditions in older people, according to Health.com, but this trend has experts concerned. A new study suggests that elderly arthritis patients who take opioids are 4.5 times more likely to break their hip, pelvis, wrist or upper arm than those taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like as ibuprofen.

Opioids and Broken Bones

The study shows that approximately 1 in 10 older people who take an opioid will break a bone each year, compared to 1 in 50 people taking COX-2 inhibitors, a more targeted form of NSAID. More alarming is that the risk of dying from any cause during the study period was 87 percent higher in people taking opioids than it was in people taking NSAIDs.

"Opioids are not as safe as people had hoped," says the lead author of the study, Daniel H. Solomon, M.D., a rheumatologist and epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts. "We need to recognize that opioids are not without risk."

The study, reported by Health.com, was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine and looked at nearly 13,000 low-income Medicare patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis who received a prescription for NSAIDs (such as ibuprofen), COX-2 inhibitors (such as Vioxx and Celebrex), or opioids (such as oxycodone and hydrocodone) over a six-year period.

Usually, the primary risk discussed when it comes to opioids is dependence or addiction, but this is one more reason to reconsider.

Prescription Drug Addiction

If you or someone you love is need of prescription drug rehab, call The Canyon at our toll-free number. Someone is there to take your call 24 hours a day and answer any questions you have about treatment, financing or insurance.