Certain painkillers appear to boost odds for heart attack
Baku, January 14 (AZERTAC). Common painkillers taken to treat inflammation, such as Celebrex and Advil, can raise the risk of heart attack, stroke or death, a review of existing research suggests.
According to HealthDay News, Swiss researchers analyzed the results of 31 trials involving seven non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), as these medications are called, and concluded that cardiovascular risk needs to be considered before prescribing any of them.
"NSAIDs are widely used worldwide for treating pain and inflammation," said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, American Heart Association spokesman and professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
All the NSAIDs studied increased the risk of cardiovascular events, but the magnitude of risk is small in absolute terms -- approximately one cardiovascular event per 100 patient-years of follow-up, Fonarow noted.
To explore the connection between NSAIDs and heart problems, a team led by Dr. Peter Juni, from the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Bern, reviewed 31 trials that included 116,429 patients. This method of reviewing trial findings to uncover a pattern is called a meta-analysis.
The painkillers the patients were taking included naproxen (Aleve), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), diclofenac (Voltaren, Cataflam), celecoxib (Celebrex), etoricoxib (Arcoxia), rofecoxib (Vioxx), lumiracoxib (Prexige) or placebo.
Overall, the number of heart events among patients taking NSAIDs was low, the researchers found. In 29 trials, 554 heart attacks occurred. In 26 trials, 377 strokes were reported, and in 28 trials, 676 people died.
Compared with patients taking placebo, those taking rofecoxib and lumiracoxib had twice the risk of heart attack, and those taking ibuprofen had more than three times the risk of stroke. The highest risks for cardiac death were associated with etoricoxib and diclofenac, where the risk was around four times greater than for placebo, the researchers found.
Naproxen appeared to be the least harmful medication, they noted.
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