That doesn't seem to truthfully represent the situation. Some people without cancer do rely on painkillers more than they should, but it is during cancer that many people start taking a lot of painkillers.
Be careful, even for prevention, because even a single use of ibuprofen can very easily leave one with a gastrointestinal ulcer, even if taken with food or on a full stomach. Taking omeprazole at +0 hours and again at +12 hours lowers this risk, although I wonder if vonoprazan would be better suited. If care is not taken, healing the ulcer can take several weeks via glutamine, vitamin C, fresh cabbage juice, collagen hydrolysate, etc. Also, it doesn't really seem to make sense to take ibuprofen if one isn't struggling with inflammatory pain.
There's always a risk with any intervention. The vast majority of people don't get ulcers from ibuprofen, aspirin, etc. To suggest taking it with omeprazole is crazy! DGL and vitamin C alongside aspirin almost fully eliminates the risk of stomach bleeding, so, I assume the same applies to ibuprofen.
If one doesn't get an ulcer from ibuprofen, then obviously there is no reason to take it with omeprazole, etc. One can take it for decades and not get them, then suddenly something changes and one start getting them. That's when the co-protection starts to be needed. There is nothing crazy about it.
As for low-dose aspirin, its safety is dose, formulation, and frequency dependent. There is a reason why many doctors don't suggest its casual use anymore. Low-dose aspirin often also leads to bruising, sometimes very large black bruising, in random regions of the body.
Vitamin C alone won't eliminate the risk. As for the combo of DGL with vitamin C, I will have to try it.
The study is not about combining vitamin C with DGL, but that could be an even better option. Anyway, unlike antacids or PPIs which neutralize or block acid, DGL is considered a "cytoprotective" agent—meaning it directly protects the stomach cells.
In those vulnerable, protection is needed continuously for 24-48 hours when taking ibuprofen, even while sleeping.
I don't know how long DGL works for, or how often it has to be dosed. I suppose it could be useful more generally as a baseline supplement, just like vitamin C.
Ibuprofen is pretty good at reducing inflammation, but it primarily works by reducing COX-1 & COX-2. Those do lots of things but also play a role in muscle development. My personal observation is Ibuprofen seems to inhibit muscle growth for me.
What phenomenon? One background article is https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5817415/. Anyway, there is a reason why doctors say to take ibuprofen only with food, although that is an unreliable and failed approach to avoiding the GI troubles that result from taking it on an empty stomach. I suggested a vastly superior additive approach using PPIs or PCABs. Misoprostol might also help for mucus production but I haven't used it.
Sorry for not being clear. The phenomenon I was curious about was that “even a single use of ibuprofen can very easily leave one with a gastrointestinal ulcer.” I have a friend with an ulcer but he doesn’t think ibuprofen use could be a factor because he takes it rarely. But if there were a paper that said otherwise, I’d like to share it with him. Thanks!
Some people tolerate ibuprofen just fine. Some people tolerate it fine for decades, and then one day they don't.
It is easy to tell if ibuprofen is the cause of an ulcer or not. If it is, the ulcer pain will likely start after say 72 hours of taking ibuprofen. If a week goes by without such pain, then it's not a cause in that dose. In those vulnerable, a single dose can be enough to cause it if strong preventative measures aren't taken.
If your friend persistently has an unhealed ulcer, then it's worthwhile to get it healed asap before experimenting with ibuprofen. I have had it a few times, also healed it every time.
