Friday, February 15,1991 The Battalion
Page 11
Ibuprofen research
shows risk of ulcers
II Hinds
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The
widely used pain reliever ibuprofen
doubles the risk of ulcers, according
to Vanderbilt University research
ers, and some experts say people
taking it may want to consider lower
doses or alternatives.
But for those suffering chronic
pain and inflammation, ibuprofen
may be the best choice, as it has the
lowest ulcer risk in its class of anal
gesics, researchers said.
The Vanderbilt study confirms
the increased risk of ulcers in people
who use prescription pain relievers,
including ibuprofen, that belong to a
group called non-steroidal anti-in-
rlantmatory drugs or NSAIDs.
It said the overall risk increased
with higher doses and was greatest
in the first month of use.
Ibuprofen, available without a
prescription since 1985, is sold un
der such brand names as Advil, Me-
dipren, Motrin and Nuprin. It has
captured about 20 percent of the
$2.5 billion non-prescription pain-
reliever market.
The study, published in the Feb. 7
Annals of Internal Medicine, in
volved 1,415 Tennessee Medicaid
enrollees hospitalized for ulcers
from 1984 to 1986 and 7,063 control
patients. At recommended dosages
for treating rheumatoid arthritis,
NSAIDs quadrupled the risk for ul-
of the ao;
cers. But <
fozen drugs studied,
ibuprofen showed the lowest risk, at
2.3 times, while meclofenamate in
creased the risk 8.7 times.
Ibuprofen is the only one of that
group available in over-the-counter
strength. Aspirin is also an NSAID
but was not included in the study be
cause it is not a prescription drug.
Ibuprofen was included because,
at the beginning of the study, it was
still a prescription drug and was
available free under Medicaid.
While ibuprofen is now available
without a prescription, the maxi
mum recommended total daily do
sage is the same as with prescription
forms; a person may take more but
smaller pills with the over-the-coun
ter brands.
Aspirin is at least as risky as ibu
profen, said the study’s lead author,
Dr. Marie Griffin, while another
pain reliever, acetominophen, is not
associated with ulcers.
Of those patients hospitalized
with ulcers, 34 percent were taking
NSAIDs compared with 13 percent
of the control group. The research
ers found that 29 percent of the hos
pitalizations were due to the
NSAIDs.
“These drugs do have side ef
fects,” Griffin said.
Griffin said higher risk for short
term use of NSAIDs may occur be
cause people who develop ulcers do
so quickly and stop taking the drug.
Matamoros slaying
Two-year search ends
in murder suspect arrest
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>n Feb. 21
MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) —A
nearly two-year search has ended
with the arrest of a man who used to
work at a ranch where a group of
drug traffickers in 1989 killed at
least 13 people, some of them in oc
cult rituals, Mexican authorities said.
Baudelio Chavez Lopez, 49, was
arrested on suspicion of complicity
in the murders and drug trafficking
allegedly committed at the ranch,
Mexican authorities confirmed
Thursday.
Police say the late Adolfo de Jesus
Constanzo headed the ring.
Chavez told authorities it has been
several years since he worked at the
Rancho Santa Elena owned by the
Hernandez family, -said Jose Elias
Gallegos Benitez, secretary for the
Fourth Federal District Court in
Matamoros.
Some members of the Hernandez
family are charged in the case, and
are accused of being principal fig
ures in the drug ring.
Authorities allege that he worked
as an emj
the ranch just south
Grande until bodies were discovered
there in April 1989.
“He has been a fugitive since
then,” said Jose Gabriel Andrino
Hernandez, commander of the Mex
ican Federal Judicial Police in Mat
amoros.
After a Tamaulipas State Judicial
Police officer spotted him, police
based in Reynosa arrested Chavez
last Saturday in the border town of
Rio Bravo, between Matamoros and
Reynosa. Andrino said Chavez was
working in an automobile body re-
tployee of the drug ring at
:h just south of the Rio
pair shop when police arrested him
Saturday.
Among the 13 bodies authorities
unearthed at the Rancho Santa El
ena was the mutilated corpse of 21-
year-old University of Texas student
Mark Kilroy. Two other bodies dis
covered at a nearby farm also are be
lieved to be victims of the same drug
rin f'
Constanzo and his accomplices
killed rival drug dealers and inno
cent victims, police say. Some of the
victims allegedly were sacrificed in
rituals designed to protect their
smuggling operation with spirits in
voked through the Afro-Caribbean
religion Palo Mayombe.
Constanzo and an associate were
killed by another. member of the
ring, purportedly at Constanzo’s or
ders, while police were closing in on
their Mexico City hideout in May
1989.
Chavez, whose nickname is “el
Lelo” or the silly one, remained in
the CERESO state prison in Mat
amoros Thursday. His attorney, Ce
sar Ceballos Blanco, declined com
ment.
Chavez was formally charged be
fore Fourth Federal District Judge
Francisco Salvador Perez on Tues
day night.
Judge Perez said Thursday that it
could be months before he reaches
verdicts in their cases. The judge
said numerous defense motions and
appeals have delayed the proceed
ings, stretching the case files to
about 4,000 pages.
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\aggi
inema/
Presents
Friday, Feb. 15, Midnight
Rudder Auditorium
Friday, Feb. 15,
7:30 & 9:45 PM
Rudder Auditorium
Admission to all shows is $2.00. Tickets are available in the
MSC Box Office. For more movie information, please call the
Aggie Cinema Information Hotline at 847-8478.
The next Aggie Cinema General Committee meeting will be
held on Monday, Feb. 18, at 7:00 PM in Room 308 Rudder.