Painkillers 'increase' heart attack risk
Painkillers 'increase' heart attack risk
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Friday, 02, Jun 2006 08:56
Taking high doses of common painkillers such as ibuprofen can double a person's risk of having a heart attack, according to new medical research.
A new study published in the British Medical Journal claims that ibuprofen and a second non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), diclofenac, can prompt attacks when taken in large amounts.
Fears have previously been raised that long term use of anti-inflammatory drugs, which are prescribed to treat patients in chronic pain such as those with arthritis, can increase the risk of cardiac arrest.
But researchers claim that the new study provides the biggest and most definitive examination of the link.
Previous concerns have focused on the use of a new group of anti-inflammatories known as COX-2 inhibitors - developed to counter the side effects of gastric bleeding and ulcers which sometimes occur when traditional NSAIDs are administered.
The COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx was banned in 2004 after research showed that patients prescribed the drug were more than twice as likely to have heart attacks as those not taking it.
The latest study, conducted by scientists at Oxford and Rome universities, confirmed that COX-2 inhibitors doubled the risk of an attack but also found that NSAIDs had the same effect.
Researchers examined the results of 138 trials in which "vascular events" had been recorded in relation to the use of COX-2 inhibitors and NSAIDs.
They found that when all "vascular events" - heart attacks, stroke, or vascular disease - were taken together, the risks increased by 40 per cent on the drugs.
Commenting on the results of the study, which involved 140,000 patients, director of the research Dr Colin Baigent said: "It supersedes all the previous work that has been done in this area. Until now, doctors have been very confused."
"We have looked at all the evidence that has ever been done and our report is hopefully going to help doctors assess these drugs."
But Dr Baigent warned that the risk to patients was moderate and that the study's findings related only to the highest doses recommended by medics.
"The rate is three heart attacks in every 1,000 patients treated for a year," he said.
Responding to the research, Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said the study added to "the mounting body of evidence" that taking high doses of NSAIDs increased the risk of having a heart attack.
"But the increased risk is small and patients with chronic debilitating pain may well feel this risk is worth taking," he added.