Paracetamol, a common over-the-counter pain-reliever, does not work in the treatment of osteoarthritis, a joint disorder afflicting tens of millions of elderly people, according to a study, released on Friday, April 1, 2016. When taken on its own to alleviate pain or enhance mobility, the drug was found to be only marginally — and insignificantly — better than a dummy pill, according to a broad survey of 74 clinical trials covering nearly 60,000 patients. "Our results suggest that paracetamol at any dose is not effective in managing pain in osteoarthritis," said Sven Trelle, the main architect of the meta-study and a researcher at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Trelle and colleagues evaluated eight different non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, taken individually in different doses and in combination with other medications. The drug that worked best for arthritis, they found, was diclofenac, sold under the brand names Voltaren, Aclonac and Cataflam. The results were published in the medical journal The Lancet.
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