NY Times article about ibuprofen use and exercise

[Possegal]

The original article says that subjects were placed into either the Ibuprofen or Control groups based on their historical use during training and competition. But later they talk about the I group having used it the day before and the day of the race. They also note that they did not control for use of the drug in the weeks prior to the race. Which to me doesn't quite hold up the same definition of "historical" as one would think. Admittedly I don't have the time to print and read the whole article, but it seems that they assume the I group use it on a regular basis, but I don't see that they actually knew that. They gave them questionairres and I guess that is where they got that info, but it isn't spelled out very well in the article.

And I see nothing about athletes with injuries being excluded or treated as a sub-group in any analysis. But again, not a thorough read of the article.

[ny biker]

According to this:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...s/a682159.html

Ibuprofen works by stopping the body's production of a substance that causes pain, fever, and inflammation. Nothing about being a muscle relaxant.

I was in college when Ibuprofen became available without a prescription, and the professor I worked for had me do research on pain killers at the time (I don't remember why, since he was a marketing professor, but anyway.) The articles I read were about the dose-response relationship for Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen (Tylenol). For both drugs, the research found that the dose-response curve is not linear, and that the response levels off as the dosage increases. Which means if you take 500 mg, you get less than twice as much of the effect you get at 250 mg. That might explain why some people don't get much relief from acute pain with ibuprofen if they're already taking it regularly for something else.

[BikingNurse]

NY Biker, Thats right it is not a muscle relaxer. It is for pain and inflammation (inflammation = pain) (I'm a nurse in a surgeon's office- we preach this stuff daily)
Really good article It was interresting. But I would like to know what the questions and avalible responses were if it were a paper survey.

[SadieKate]

Ibuprofen works by stopping the body's production of a substance that causes pain, fever, and inflammation. Nothing about being a muscle relaxant.

Interesting since I had medical professionals tell me it was a muscle relaxant, but this was 25 years ago and they may have been putting it into "layman's terms" which frickin' drives me up the wall.

[Possegal]

It is not a muscle relaxant, it is an anti-inflammatory, pain reliever and anti-pyretic. But you are right, someone likely thought they would make it easier to understand and then actually gave you incorrect information. I've been a Dr of Pharmacology for (oh dear lord, 17 yrs) and it has never been thought to be a muscle relaxant in any of that time. They were probably trying to explain why it is better for menstrual cramps than other NSAIDs, but I don't recall ever reading anywhere why that is, just that we know it to be so. Which is not uncommon with our knowledge of drugs.

The original article talked about here, does not give a sample of the questionnaire and although they say they asked about prior history, subjects were put into the groups based on use the day before and day of the race. I guess you could argue that the subjects that used ibuprofen would have been people that normally used it, but not sure you can tell that from the publication (and there are several papers that seem to have come out of this study).

[SadieKate]

I've been a Dr of Pharmacology for (oh dear lord, snip yrs) . . .

Cool. You have an opinion on my spray vs pill question regarding B12 and D supplements?

I feel like the entire supplement industry has a snake oil salesman lurking around every corner.

[Possegal]

I hadn't seen that question but I too sometimes have that same feeling. I am not anti-supplements, not by a longshot. I just wish there were more regulations for them to prove safety and efficacy and more regulations to govern the manufacture to ensure that you are getting what you think you are getting.

[SadieKate]

Possegal >>>>>> http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=33446