5 ms·
diclofenac surprises me because it's not used much anymore. I wonder if there is a huge time delay going on here, and the contamination found was from doses ad
by ars 3y ago
diclofenac surprises me because it's not used much anymore.
I wonder if there is a huge time delay going on here, and the contamination found was from doses administered decades ago.
- fisherjeff 3y agoPer the great Wikipedia, “In 2020, [diclofenac] was the 72nd most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 9 million prescriptions.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diclofenac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diclofenac
- virgulino 3y agoI have been taking diclofenac every day for more than 10 years. It is not an uncommon medicine here in Brazil.
- ars 3y agoIt apparently kills vultures and some other animals, and there is a push to discontinue using it. I wasn't trying to say it's not used! I was just surprised to see it in the very short list of medications they found, rather than some other more commonly used medication.
- grugagag 3y agoOk, then keep it away from vultures and other animals. Not the best reason to discontinue if it brings relief to people
- ars 3y agoI'm not in charge of deciding that :) But the entire point of this article is that when you take a drug it doesn't always vanish (metabolize) it often ends up in the sewer system, and from there it affects vultures and other animals.
- virgulino 3y agoAs far as I know, the main ecological problem is its veterinary use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diclofenac#As_a_veterinary_drug https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diclofenac#As_a_veterinary_dru...
- darth_avocado 3y agoIt is common in US too. It is harmful when used in animals, but even that is not globally accepted. Plenty of countries use it for animals too.
- LinaLauneBaer 3y agoDiclo. is an unimaginable useful drug. It has some properties that make it almost irreplaceable for certain types of pain that are broadly experienced in the population. Rheumatic pain is usually hard to treat and many patients end up with a whole mix of pain drugs and many many times diclo makes the whole mix work.
- Scoundreller 3y agoThere's a lot of diclofenac gels/creams available without a prescription for topical use. Pretty popular stuff in Europe, and maybe elsewhere. A lot probably just washes off. But it's a lot of milligrams in 1%, 2% or 3% tube formulation vs. tablets that are usually 50mg or 100mg. On the ice, I'm guessing a lot of joint pain. Not just from falls, but just walking on ice and snow strains different muscles than you usually use to walk around.