http://www.nationalledger.com/scribe/archives/2005/06/popular_pain_ki.shtml
June 10, 2005
Popular Pain Killers May Increase Risk Of Heart Attack
Physicians have warned that the popular painkillers like ibuprofen can
raise the risk of having a heart attack.
A study by British researchers suggests that regular use of the drug
increases the chances of an attack by almost a 25%.
Other painkillers in the same family of anti-inflammatory drugs, which
are used by millions of arthritis patients, may be even more dangerous,
raising the risk by up to 55 percent, according to the study.
Thisislondon.co.uk cites Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British
Medical Association's GPs committee, as saying: "Patients should be
reassured that although this study raises some questions, there is no
need to panic. And patients should not suddenly stop taking their
medicines."
The study from researchers at Nottingham University examined a range of
painkillers, and indicated that they all increased heart attack risk
when taken in the three months before the attack.
Painkillers have come under increased scrutiny since Merck & Co.'s
Sept. 30 withdrawal of Vioxx, or rofecoxib, which was shown to raise
the risk of heart disease. Vioxx is a COX-2 inhibitor, a class of
anti-inflammatory drugs designed to replace older non-steroid medicines
which have been associated with gastrointestinal problems.
According to published reports, the study found that Vioxx raised the
risk of heart attack by 24 percent, Celebrex by 31 percent, and
ibuprofen by 24 percent. For diclofenac, it rose by over a half to 55
percent.
The research - published in the British Medical Journal - identified
9,218 patients aged 25 to 100 in England, Scotland and Wales who had
suffered a heart attack for the first time during a four-year period.
The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
said that anti-inflammatory drugs were important medicines in the
treatment of arthritic and other painful conditions.
The agency said it would be examining the new study in the context of
other evidence. It added: "Ibuprofen has an excellent safety record."
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Excellent safety record...
and a 25% greater chance of a heart attack.
TC