Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs – All drugs are classified in terms of either their active ingredients or how they are used to treat a particular condition. Moreover, a specific drug may fall into one or more of these specific drug classes. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a class of drugs that all have similar analgesic, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Though the individual drugs that fall within this class of medications differ in chemical structure, they are grouped together in this class due to their action of blocking the enzyme cyclo-oxygenase (COX). By blocking this enzyme, NSAIDs act to inhibit the production of thromboxanes and prostaglandins, which are both products of the inflammatory response.