I am old enough to have lived through the era when over-the-counter analgesics like Bex were used to alleviate stress, aid sleep and act as a pick-me-up.
Renal disease was frequently the result of longterm abuse. There was often an apparent relationship between this abuse and low-income suburbs. From memory I seem to remember that the Newcastle region featured heavily in newspaper articles of the time.
I had thought those days were gone.
Now it seems other analgesics are beginning to find their way into bathrooms, kitchen cupboards, handbags, briefcases, school bags and lives, in an attempt to ease the many problems of associated with modern life. News.com.au reports that Nurofen is now being used in an abusive pattern, causing renal problems, ulcers and organ damage.
"In the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia, Dr Martin Dutch of The Angliss Hospital in Melbourne wrote that misuse of Nurofen Plus was a "significant" problem.
"Over a six-month period, two patients presented (themselves) to a community hospital emergency department with perforated gastric ulcers as the result of recreational misuse of over-the-counter ibuprofen–codeine preparations," Dr Dutch said.
"Over a six-month period, two patients presented (themselves) to a community hospital emergency department with perforated gastric ulcers as the result of recreational misuse of over-the-counter ibuprofen–codeine preparations," Dr Dutch said.
"Misuse of these medications appears to be an emerging cause of significant morbidity in patients with codeine addiction."
News.com.au report:
News.com.au report:
Widespread unhappiness and dissatisfaction manifests itself in many ways.
Are we seeing not just addiction, but another canary in the mine telling us that all is not well within our economically stratified society.
