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Updated February 2016

Celebrex Does Not Reduce Risk of Ulcer

Patients using Celebrex, the arthritis drug designed to avoid ulcers, had a 5 percent chance of suffering more bleeding from their ulcers, according to a new study.

Celebrex, as well as Vioxx, are painkillers called COX-2 inhibitors. Patients taking older painkillers, known as noomega-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), often suffered from stomach-related side effects. This newer class of drugs was designed to reduce these side effects, however, debate has begun over whether the drugs actually reduce the incidence of ulcers.

Moreover, insurance companies are often reluctant to cover Celebrex and Vioxx, as they are more expensive than other painkillers, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, and have not been proven to kill pain any better.

The study found that among Celebrex patients, the chance of recurrent bleeding over a six-month period was 4.9 percent, compared with a 6.4 percent rate for those taking the painkiller diclofenac in addition to ulcer drug Prilosec.

Researchers concluded that the difference between the two drugs was not great enough to promote one over the other.

Celebrex has generally gained popularity over Vioxx because of concerns that Vioxx raises the risk of heart-related side effects among patients taking the medicine.

Older painkillers target two groups of proteins, COX-2 enzymes and COX-1 enzymes. COX-1 enzymes protect the lining of the stomach, so Celebrex and Vioxx are designed to target only COX-2, leaving COX-1 alone. The intended result was that this would help protect the stomach lining.

- The Guardian December 24, 2002

Comments

So why am I not surprised about these findings?

Because these results are consistent with the notorious history of this drug. Celebrex had long been promoted as a "safer" NSAID, and an article "proving" this was published in the most widely circulated medical journal in the world, JAMA.

After some time, however, the truth came out, and it was determined that the study investigators who were subsidized by Pharmacia, the makers of Celebrex, were actually lying.

Of course JAMA did a major retraction, but Pharmacia got what it wanted -- major market penetration in a ten billion dollar market.

You just can't trust drug companies.

Does this mean I would never use or recommend any drug? Absolutely not. There are many excellent drugs out there, but you need to be cautious in considering them and always consider any drug information from the manufacturer with a great deal of skepticism as they are very skilled in manipulation.

Plus, you can create your own anti-inflammatory just by changing the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in your diet. This is non-controversial and there are dozens and dozens of studies that clearly demonstrate this. Even traditional medicine has firmly embraced these concepts.

I review many controversial topics, but there is no disagreement on this one. Virtually everyone acknowledges that omega-3 fats play a crucial role in arthritis. If you need guidelines for how to use omega-3 fats please review my comments.

However, this story does demonstrate the dangers of using drug Band-Aids as a permanent "fix" for the problem. They may actually seem to work, but they work at a huge price, both economically and physically. Do you really want to trade joint pain for a heart attack?

Having stated that, the pain in many conditions can be quite severe. Fortunately there are simple basic solutions for over 95 percent of the conditions that you would be taking these drugs for.