NSAID Painkillers Increase Risk of Heart Attack
August 2, 2006 by Lei
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
More evidence that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) –COX-2 inhibitors*, ibuprofen, naproxen–may increase the risk of heart attacks. A Finnish case-control study comparing heart attack patients with matched control subjects found that “current use of any type of NSAID was associated with 40 percent increased risk of having a heart attack.”
Conflicting evidence abounds when it comes to the safety of NSAID pain relievers as they pertain to heart health. The best way to settle the issue would be to conduct a clinical trial (the gold standard of epidemiologic studies) that compares study participants who are given NSAIDs to those given placebo. Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt and colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio are planning a clinical trial investigating the effect of NSAIDs on heart disease.
*COX-2 selective drugs include Bextra, Celebrex, and Vioxx
Reuters.co.uk, August 2, 2006
European Heart Journal, June 16, 2006
