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