Older people taking one had about 2.51 times the odds of kidney injury
Pooled population studies put the odds of acute kidney injury, a sudden drop in kidney function, at about 1.73 times non-use among adults currently taking one.
What the study found
The kidney odds rise again once the person taking it is older
Pooled population studies put the odds of acute kidney injury, a sudden drop in kidney function, at about 1.73 times non-use among adults currently taking a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID. In older people the pooled figure was about 2.51.
The caveat · Rate without the drug never given
Not one of the pooled studies reported how often acute kidney injury happens without the drug, so there is no baseline here to turn these odds into a personal number, and the authors say so outright. Definitions of kidney injury differed between studies. The estimate for people with existing chronic kidney disease rests on five studies whose own figures ranged from 1.12 to 5.25. Prescription-based records miss anything bought over the counter.