TAKING pills of 600mg of Ibuprofen is less effective than those of 400mg, and the three in 10 patients who consume the former three times a day may actually be overdosing, according to a study by Asturias Central University Hospital.
Dr Julio Pascual from the Neurology department says 400mg is the optimum dose for light to moderate pain where anti-inflammatories are recommended, being more effective than pills of 200mg.
But pills of 600mg do not work as well as those of 400mg and, despite the fact Ibuprofen is frequently sold in doses of this size, is actually more than the recommended amount for the average human, says Dr Pascual.
Taken every eight hours, 400mg works better, he maintains.
“There is no scientific reason why patients should be given doses exceeding 400mg,” Dr Pascual stresses.
“In most western countries, doses of 600mg are not even sold, whereas in Spain they account for 80 per cent of those sold over the counter, compared to less than 15 per cent of the rest of Europe.”
