Taking painkillers before participating in marathons in order to avoid the pain from interfering with their performance could lead to potentially side effects, a new study reveals.

In all, just under 4000 (56%) of all 7048 competitors returned their online questionnaires. Most (87%) had run marathons before.
Of those who took painkillers before the race, 1 in 5 said they also used painkillers during training to curb or ward off pain; 1 in 10 said they had pain symptoms before the start of the race. This compares with 1% of those who didn't touch painkillers.
Over half the drugs taken (54%) were bought over the counter without a prescription, and included diclofenac, asprin, and ibuprofen.
The numbers of those forced to withdraw during the race because of pain and other health symptoms differed little between those who took painkillers and those who didn't.
But withdrawal from competition because of gastrointestinal problems was significantly more common among those taking painkillers, and while withdrawal as a result of muscle cramps was rare, it was significantly more common in those who had taken these drugs.
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Symptoms included stomach cramps, cardiovascular problems, gastrointestinal bleeds, blood in the urine and joint and muscle pain.
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Virtually none of the respondents said they were aware of any risks associated with taking painkillers for endurance sports.
Nine runners who took painkillers said they had ended up in hospital: three for temporary kidney failure after taking ibuprofen; four for bleeding ulcers (aspirin), and two after a heart attack (aspirin), one of whom had taken 500 mg for mild foot pain.
None of the runners who competed without having topped up on painkillers was admitted to hospital.
Painkillers block enzymes called cyclooxygenases, which regulate the production of prostaglandins. But the authors suggest that prostaglandins also protect tissues when the body is under extreme stress, such as during endurance sports.
"Taken together, our data indicate that the widespread use of cyclooxygenase inhibitors in connection with endurance sports is potentially damaging. Further investigations are warranted to examine whether the use of analgesics before and during sports activities should be avoided altogether," they conclude.
Source-Eurekalert