No matter how "unscientific" acupuncture may sound, billions of people in the world are still using it for relief of pain, be it lower back pain, neuropathic pain, cancer-related pain, surgery-induced pain, etc. When dealing with chronic pains, elderly patients should make decision after weighing the benefits and side-effects of each therapy. If acupuncture and NSAIDS can offer comparable relief, patients should, at least, consider two more benefits of acupuncture: cost-effectiveness and fewer side-effects. Acupuncture  feels like a poke or may even possibly leave a small bruise like a blood-draw does, but after all it will NOT cause a "heart-ache".

The Chronic NSAID Use Doubles CV Deaths in Elderly

July 14, 2011 (Gainesville, Florida) — Older patients with hypertension and coronary artery disease who use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) chronically for pain are at significantly increased risk of cardiovascular events, a new post hoc analysis from the International Verapamil-Trandolapril Study (INVEST) demonstrates [1]. The research is published in the July 2011 issue of the American Journal of Medicine.

"We found a significant increase in adverse cardiovascular outcomes, primary driven by an increase in cardiovascular mortality," lead author Dr Anthony A Bavry (University of Florida, Gainesville) told heartwire . "This is not the first study to show there is potential harm with these agents, but I think it further solidifies that concern."

He says the observational study, conducted within the hypertension trial INVEST, is particularly relevant to everyday practice because the patients included were typical of those seen in internal-medicine, geriatric, and cardiology clinics--they were older, with hypertension and clinically stable CAD.

Bavry and colleagues were not able to differentiate between NSAIDs in the study--most people were takingibuprofen, naproxen, or celecoxib--and he says until further work is done, he considers the risks of NSAIDs "a class effect," and their use should be avoided wherever possible. For more details please follow this link...

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/746380?src=mp&spon=8