I know that many pain relievers are anti-inflammatories as well.  But
some might not be.  From the following list, which are
anti-inflammatory?  Are any particularly effective at this?
(Note: I'm thinking about minor muscle aches, _not_ major
catastrophes.  Don't worry, I won't be using tylenol to treat a broken
leg or anything)

Aspirin
Tylenol
Orudis
Advil (Ibuprofen)
Aleve (Naproxen)
any other mass market product I forgot

Hello kattan-ga,

The type of OTC (Over the counter) drug you are talking about is
called a NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug)
http://arthritis.about.com/od/nsaids/g/nsaids.htm (What are NSAIDs)

Some NSAIDs are OTC, and some are not. Here are some OTC NSAIDs on your list.

Asprin is a NSAID
Low Dose (200 MG) of ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, Nuprin)
Low Dose Naproxin (Alive)
Ketoprofin (Orudis and Oruvail are not OTC, but Actron and Orudis KT are OTC)

Some things you should be aware of with NSAIDs are?
1.	Do not take these if you have had a reaction to ?aspirin, any over
the counter NSAIDs or any other medicine used to treat pain, fever,
swelling or arthritis.?
http://www.spine.org/articles/nsaids.cfm (Info on NSAIDs)
2.	Talk to your Doctor before starting a NSAID if you take any other
medications to avoid a drug interaction
3.	Check with your Doctor if you plan to become pregnant or are pregnant.
4.	If you have bleeding or clotting problems or have a history of
gastrointestinal bleeding or ulcers speak with your Doctor.
5.	Take with food and 8oz. of water.

Precautions:
?  If you take NSAIDs for prolonged periods (months), make sure you
have regular check-ups by your healthcare provider.
?  Notify your healthcare provider if you regularly consume alcoholic
beverages. Your medications may need to be modified.
?  Serious side effects resulting in severe and even life-threatening
illness (from such problems as bleeding ulcers and others) can occur
without warning.
?  Do not take other NSAIDs, including over the counter NSAIDs (Advil,
Nuprin, Aleve) and aspirin, with this prescription. Continuing the use
of daily single low dose aspirin compounds for prevention of
cardiovascular conditions is usually acceptable.
?  NSAIDs can also affect other medical conditions such as high blood
pressure, kidney problems, asthma and others. Make sure you have
informed your healthcare provider about all your medical problems and
all the medications you take (prescription and over the counter,
including vitamins and homeopathic compounds) before taking this new
medication.
?  Since some NSAIDs can cause drowsiness; make sure you know how you
react to the NSAID before operating machinery or other jobs that
require you to be alert.
http://www.spine.org/articles/nsaids.cfm (Info on NSAIDs)

You should immediately stop taking the medication and contact your
healthcare provider if you notice any of the following:
1.	Severe nausea, heartburn or abdominal pain; 
2.	Bloody or black tarry stools; 
3.	Vomiting blood or material that looks like coffee grounds; 
4.	Recurrent nose bleeds or bleeding from the mouth or gums or other
unusual bleeding;
5.	Easy and severe bruising; 
6.	Hives or swelling of the face, eyelids, mouth, lips or tongue; 
7.	Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing; 
8.	Wheezing; 
9.	Tightness in the chest or chest pain; 
10.	Sudden, unexplained weight gain; 
11.	Sudden decrease in the amount of urine production; 
12.	Convulsions or seizures; 
13.	Elevated blood pressure. 
http://www.spine.org/articles/nsaids.cfm (Info on NSAIDs)

Google Search Used:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=is+aspirin+an+anti+inflammatory&spell=1
Is aspirin an anti inflammatory

If this answer requires further explanation, please request
clarification before rating it, and I'll be happy to look into this
further.

Nenna-GA
Google Answers Researcher

---

Clarification of Answer by nenna-ga on 23 Aug 2005 08:55 PDT

In addition, I forgot to add, in my personal experience, I've had good
luck with ibuprofen. I'm not a huge fan of naproxin's, but I know many
who are. I believe with your body chemistry, you should try them out
and find the one that works best for you.

Nenna-GA

---

Request for Answer Clarification by katten-ga on 24 Aug 2005 07:46 PDT

Perhaps I wasn't clear in my question: I'm also looking for specific,
clinical data about which of these is most effective for reducing
inflammation, rather than just your personal experience or a
suggestion to try them out and see which I like best.  This answer, so
far, has only given me the information which I can get from reading
the label.

---

Clarification of Answer by nenna-ga on 24 Aug 2005 09:13 PDT

Hello again kattan-ga,

For everyone, which one is "most effective" is different. Because of
different body chemistry, people react different ways to medicine. No
two of us are exactly alike. I think the best way to find the "best
one (since it's so subjective) is to try them out and see which one
works best for you. I also once again suggest talking to your Doctor
to minimize any possible drug interactions. I'm sure at 1 point in
time all of these Brand Names have said they're the best with a
clinical study to back it up.

?Often patients will experience a different response to different
medications. This could be why some medications have helped your
symptoms while others do not have a significant effect. This is not
unusual, and it is difficult to predict which medications will most
benefit a given individual. The best way to determine which NSAID is
best for you is to try different options. Often a physician will
recommend one NSAID, and if adequate relief of symptoms is not
obtained within several weeks of treatment, another trial can be
attempted.?
http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/paindrugs/a/bestnsaids.htm (Which is
the best NSAID?)

A Consumer Reports study ranked 3 of them by effectiveness, safety and
cost and said that?
?  Ibuprofen - costing an average $26 to $30 per month. 
?  Naproxen - costing an average $44 to $50 per month 
?  Salsalate - costing an average $26 to $35 per month

Were the 3 ?Best Buy? Drugs. (Downloadable 15 page report at the link)
http://www.crbestbuydrugs.org/drugreport_DR_Nsaids2.html (CR Best Buy
Drugs ? June 2005)

Google Search
Which NSAID is best
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=which++NSAID+is+best&btnG=Search

Nenna-GA

Although I asked for specific information, it seems the question was
not clealy parsed by the researcher.

The answer is actually wrong. It is true that you can have different
reaction to a particular drug than someone else, but the NSAIDs DO
vary in their specific effects. They all share antiinflamatory,
antipyretic, analgetic effects. Some have also other effects
(antiaggregation in aspirin) and some have one of the effects more
marked than the others.
From your list
Aspirin
Tylenol
Orudis
Advil (Ibuprofen)
Aleve (Naproxen)

Tylenol (acetaminofen) is mainly analgetic-antipyretic and doesnt have
a strong antiinflamatory effect.
Orudis (ketoprofen) is the same group as Advil (ibuprofen) and Aleve
(naproxen), all are derivates of a propionic acid and they have
stronger antiinflamatory effect in lower doses, analgetic and
antipyretic in higher doses.
Aspirin (ASA) is the basic drug of the NSAID group. It has good
antipyretic and analgetic effects in lower doses, and the
antiinflamatory and antiaggregative effects with higher doses. However
I wouldnt recommend long-term using of ASA except for the
antiaggregative effect in status post IM. ASA is also relatively
contraindicated in pediatric care for an unclear connection with rare
Reye syndrome.

For your problems, I would recommend something from the propionic acid
group, i.e. ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen. The latter two have
longer biologic half-time, that means the dosing can be less frequent.

THIS is the answer I was looking for.  If I could tip you, amirzolal-ga, I would!

It should be emphasized that Tylenol has essentially no
anti-inflammatory effect.  The other medications mentioned are all
from the same class: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDS.
 Tylenol is not part of this class.  The others all have more or less
the same mechanism and thus the same side-effects.  Yes, there is
variation within the group, as amirzolal-ga says, but I'm not sure
where he gets his specific information, which is incorrect, at least
in his description of aspirin. He states "It has good antipyretic and
analgetic effects in lower doses, and the antiinflamatory and
antiaggregative effects with higher doses."  Aspirin is dispensed in
low daily doses for antiplatelet activity (what he calls
"antiaggregative") at 81mg by mouth once daily.  At an analgesic and
anti-inflammatory dose, it is given at 650mg to 1000mg by mouth every
4-6 hours.

But regardless of this, current practice in the US does rely much more
heavily on the proprionic acid derivitives, as amirzolal-ga states. 
Advil (generically ibuprofen), is cheap and effective.  Naproxen is
also available generically, and can be dosed twice daily, which is
convenient.  Long-term use of these drugs can lead to bleeding
complications, peptic ulcer disease, and kidney failure, to name but a
few things, so if you are going to use them for more than a couple of
days at time, see a docotr!

Cheers.

Right. Sorry about the dosing with aspirine, the correct information
is that its used in lower doses but long term for its antiplatelet
action (325 mg / day, 81 mg /day when administered with warfarin) and
in higher doses short term for other purposes. For the other specific
information, I used the book: SIXTUS HYNIE: Farmakologie v kostce,
Prague 2001, ISBN 80-7254-181-1, which is in Czech and therefore of
little use to you, however linezoid-ga should have no problem finding
the information in any english pharmacology textbook, should he be
interested in the subject. The same cross-cultural problem applies to
the smart comment on Tylenol not being a part of the NSAID group, as
its mode of action was obscure for a long time and its regarded as a
part of the group traditionally.