01 May 2011

Anti-Inflammatory Agents

After class last week I was curious to the extent to which common anti-inflammatory drugs like Tylenol and Advil are taken by the general public. In one report produced by the FDA it was noted that over 100 million people consume products containing acetominophen annually, and that there are over 600 products that contain this substance on the market today. When I looked up Advil, I found that the sale of Advil generates 498 million dollars in revenue in a nine month period---that's a lot of anti-inflammatory power. While we were informed of the risks of taking these medications, I wonder to what extent are the majority of Tylenol and Advil users familiar with the product they pop everytime they have a headache. It seems to me like this would be a great area to introduce a placebo study.

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