Status: 15.01.2024, 13:44 PM
By: Dorita Plange
CommentsPrint Share
Not harmless at all. Over-the-counter painkillers can also cause fatal damage – especially when taken in combination with other medications.
The health insurance company Barmer warns against this in its drug report. This examines the drug pain therapy of outpatients with Barmer insured persons aged 18 and over without a tumour disease. According to the study, around 17.1 million people with statutory health insurance received medication for pain therapy in 2021.
New hotline advises patients on how to take painkillers
The health insurance company Barmer in Bavaria is now operating a hotline on the subject of pain. In this way, the health insurance company offers all those citizens who suffer from pain in their everyday lives a point of contact. After all, if you have certain pre-existing conditions or in combination with other medicines, taking painkillers can have fatal consequences at any time. This is all the more true for the 20 million people in Germany who take five or more medications at the same time.
"Pain can make everyday life an ordeal. Our new hotline answers specific questions about pain and its treatment so that no unnecessary risks arise," says Alfred Kindshofer, Managing Director of Barmer in Bavaria. On the hotline, which is available 18 hours a day, experts therefore also answer questions about the safety of drug therapy that many patients are likely to ask: Which drug combinations are risky? Can there be undesirable interactions? Is the painkiller even the right one for a certain pre-existing condition?
The hotline is now available daily from 6 a.m. to 24 p.m. on the toll-free number 0800 84 84 111.
Diclofenac and ibuprofen may further deteriorate cardiac performance in heart failure
Be careful when taking medication: If you swallow several tablets, you should be informed about possible interactions beforehand. © Shotshop/Imago
It turned out that around 526,000 insured persons were prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or diclofenac despite heart failure. Medical guidelines definitely advise against this combination, as even a short use of these drugs can significantly worsen the performance of the heart. This can increase the number of hospitalizations and the risk of death.
Barmer boss warns: There is no pain therapy without side effects
Prof. Christoph Straub is CEO of the health insurance company Barmer and a physician himself. © Mathias Kehren, Dipl. Photo Designer
"The combination of supposedly harmless painkillers in particular can have fatal consequences. The therapy, which is usually prescribed by several doctors, is hardly manageable without digital support," warns Barmer CEO Prof. Dr. med. Christoph Straub. He called for the consistent and binding use of digital assistants in the supply of medicines in order to keep track of the overall medication and all side effects and interactions. This is absolutely necessary, as there is no side-effect-free painkiller therapy so far. In addition, painkillers such as ibuprofen, diclofenac and Co. are also available without a prescription.
Error in painkiller prescription: fivefold increased risk of intestinal obstruction
According to experts, serious and avoidable errors also occurred in three out of ten cases of therapies with strong painkillers. According to the drug report, thousands of patients were affected by opioid therapy when using medication. "According to the study, in 2021, around 2.7 million people with statutory health insurance without tumor disease in Germany were prescribed an opioid, i.e. a very strong painkiller such as morphine variants. However, three out of ten sufferers did not receive a laxative at the same time, as provided for in medical guidelines. This even increases the risk of intestinal obstruction fivefold. Five out of every 10,000 patients with opioid therapy have to be hospitalized every year because of this complication. This could be avoided if laxatives were prescribed and taken as a precautionary measure," said study author Prof. Dr. Daniel Grandt, chief physician at Saarbrücken Hospital.
My news
"Respect": Mom was pregnant almost every year from 1993 to 2019
Sinus inflamed: nasal mucus has a certain color – ten symptoms of sinusitis reading
Treating high blood pressure with micronutrients? Magnesium and vitamin D have antihypertensive effectsread
Pancreatic Cancer: How to Detect Tumor in Bowel Movements – Six CharacteristicsRead
No need for an appointment in the practice: Which specialists you can visit directly without a referralread
Vitamin D preparations at Ökotest – only five out of 20 remedies are convincingread
Don't miss:
You can find everything you need to know about health in the newsletter of our partner 24vita.de.
With a combination of strong painkillers and sedatives, there is a risk of dramatic side effects
There are further risks associated with the use of very strong painkillers. For example, opioids should not be used together with sedatives, so-called tranquilizers, because there is a risk of serious side effects, including increased deaths. Nevertheless, around one in ten – i.e. 40,100 BARMER insured persons – had received a sedative at the same time as an opioid prescription, contrary to the guideline recommendations. Here, patients would be avoidably endangered.
Cologne scientists warn: Dangers also threaten with painkiller and fever medication metamizole
The elderly, in particular, are threatened by risky drug combinations. According to the results of the drug report – based on the analyses of an interdisciplinary team of scientists at the University of Cologne – the prescription of metamizole, a remedy for pain, fever and colic, also repeatedly leads to risky constellations. In 2021, around 959,000 adult BARMER insured persons were prescribed metamizole. In individual cases, the drug can cause severe damage to the hematopoietic cells.
Metamizole: Particularly high risk in the over-80s
This risk is particularly multiplied in the over-80s if they receive a drug for the treatment of inflammation and cancer in addition to metamizole, namely methotrexate. Although the simultaneous administration of medication is considered a no-go, at least for this age group, 1.1 percent – i.e. 10,100 of the Barmer insured persons treated with metamizole – received both preparations at the same time. 22.4 percent of these insured persons were already 80 years old. The scientists came to the conclusion: "The painkiller metamizole is used too uncritically."
Barmer project against dangerous tablet mix could save the lives of 70,000 people a year
To avoid these dangers, some of which are life-threatening, doctors can receive digital support. Barmer, for example, runs the AdAM project, which supports general practitioners in their medication management and warns of risks and interactions. The data transfer takes place via a data centre commissioned by Barmer via the protected portal of an Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians. The target group is adult patients who take at least five medications for more than six months. "It's an effective help," says Prof. Grandt. If this system were to become part of standard care, AdAM could save the lives of up to 70,000 people every year.