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It has been suspected for nearly 40 years that analgesic abuse produces renal dysfunction. Phenacetin, the substance most often incriminated, has been removed from analgesics in many countries. Yet past studies of analgesic abuse have had contradictory results, and no prospective, longitudinal study has been reported.
A team from Switzerland has prospectively followed two groups of women since 1968: 623 initially healthy women who regularly used analgesics containing phenacetin, and 621 matched non-users. Over 20 years of follow-up, the phenacetin users had higher rates of overall mortality (relative risk, 2.2), death from urologic or renal disease (RR, 16.1), death from cancer (RR, 1.9), and death from cardiovascular disease (RR, 2.9). Phen…