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Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, usually abbreviated to NSAIDs, are drugs with analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory[?] effects: they reduce pain, fever and inflammation. They act by inhibiting the cyclooxygenase 2[?] enzyme in the formation of prostaglandins from arachidonic acid[?].
Most of the well-known pain-killers are NSAIDs - the salicylate aspirin, ibuprofen, and paracetamol (although paracetamol is a para-aminophenol derivative and is more active in the brain than in the periphery and so has no anti-inflammatory activity).
See also: Ketoprofen
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