Ibuprofen is a medicine many of us use without thinking twice. It’s an easy way to get quick relief from pain or bring down a fever.
But scientists from the University of California Davis have some new findings that might make us think a little more before popping that pill.
Even more surprising, the research shows that ibuprofen affects men and women differently.
What Did the Researchers Do?
The team of researchers gave mice a dose of ibuprofen that’s about the same as what a person would take to treat mild pain. This was about 400 mg per day. The experiment lasted a week.
After that, they looked at the liver cells of the mice to see how they had been affected. They found that the medicine made more changes in the liver than anyone had thought before.
The team discovered that ibuprofen messed around with at least 34 different processes in the liver cells of male mice.
These processes are like little assembly lines that help our bodies break down food into energy, balance hormones, and keep our cells healthy.
One of the byproducts of these processes was something called hydrogen peroxide, a substance that can harm cells if there’s too much of it.
It turns out that the medicine could also make these processes work differently in men and women. For example, the liver’s waste removal system didn’t respond the same way in male and female mice.
The research even suggests that men who take ibuprofen could end up keeping other medicines in their body for a longer time. That’s something no one had shown before.
Why Does This Matter?
We often think of medicines like ibuprofen as harmless because they’re easy to get without a prescription. But if we’re taking them when we don’t really need to, we might be putting our livers at risk.
And because men and women seem to react differently to ibuprofen, doctors might need to think more about who they’re prescribing it to.
The study also reminds us that men and women aren’t the same when it comes to medicine. Knowing this could change the way we use medicines in the future.
The researchers are saying that for mild pain, we might need to consider alternatives to medicines like ibuprofen.
We also need more studies to understand why men and women are affected differently by some medicines.
In the meantime, it might be a good idea to talk to your doctor about any concerns you might have about taking ibuprofen or other over-the-counter medicines.
The study, led by Professor Aldrin Gomes and his team, was published in a scientific journal, adding to our growing understanding of how common medicines can affect us in unexpected ways.
So the next time you reach for that ibuprofen bottle, it might be worth a second thought.
If you care about liver health, please read studies about a diet that can treat fatty liver disease and obesity, and coffee drinkers may halve their risk of liver cancer.
For more information about liver health, please see recent studies that anti-inflammatory diet could help prevent fatty liver disease, and results showing vitamin D could help prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
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