An Epidemiologic Study of Abuse of Analgesic Drugs: Effects of Phenacetin and Salicylate on Mortality and Cardiovascular Morbidity (1968 to 1987)

SINCE it was suggested in 1953 that analgesic drugs could cause chronic renal disease, 1 the relation between prolonged ingestion of such drugs and the development of renal disease has been well studied. 2 3 4 However, none of the investigations were longitudinal, most were case–control studies, and few used objective measures of drug use. As a result, none clearly demonstrated whether excessive or prolonged use of analgesic agents by healthy persons causes renal disorders. 5 In 1967 we designed the present study to determine the incidence of renal disease among 623 apparently healthy women 30 to 49 years old who regularly took analgesic drugs . . .