IBUPROFEN
Ibuprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) originally marketed as Brufen, and since then under various other trademarks, most notably Nurofen, Advil and Motrin. It is used for relief of symptoms of arthritis, primary dysmenorrhea, fever, and as an analgesic, especially where there is an inflammatory component. Ibuprofen is known to have an anti-platelet effect, though it is relatively mild and short-lived when compared with that of aspirin or other better-known anti-platelet drugs. Ibuprofen is a core medicine in the World Health Organization's "Essential Drugs List", which is a list of minimum medical needs for a basic health care system. Like aspirin, indometacin, and most other NSAIDs, ibuprofen is considered a non-selective COX inhibitor—that is, it inhibits two isoforms of cyclooxygenase, COX-1 and COX-2. Ibuprofen appears to have the lowest incidence of gastrointestinal adverse drug reactions (ADRs) of all the non-selective NSAIDs. However, this only holds true at lower doses of ibuprofen, so over-the-counter preparations of ibuprofen are generally labeled to advise a maximum daily dose of 1,200 mg. Common adverse effects include: nausea, dyspepsia, gastrointestinal ulceration/ bleeding, raised liver enzymes, diarrhea, epistaxis, headache, dizziness, priapism, rash, salt and fluid retention, and hypertension. Infrequent adverse effects include: esophageal ulceration, heart failure, hyperkalaemia, renal impairment, confusion, and bronchospasm. (Sources: J. Clinical Pharm. / Annals of Neurology/ Medline Plus/ Wikipedia)
