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Ibuprofen May Up Heart Attack Risk |
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A study by researchers at Nottingham University, published in the British Medical Journal, found that the risk of a heart attack increased in people taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen.
Risk of a heart attack increased by 24 pct in people who had taken ibuprofen in the three months before their first attack, and by 55 pct for those who took diclofenac, the study revealed.
'I would imagine the risk is still very low because the drug has been used for so long and there was never any real issues with them,' said Karl-Heinz Koch, a pharmaceutical analyst at LODH in Zurich, who does not think the companies that make the drug will be affected. Widely used painkillers may carry a significant risk of heart attack, according to a British analysis that raises questions about the safety of ibuprofen and other drugs in its class.
The research also confirmed earlier U.S. studies about the risks of COX-2 inhibitors, showing a 21 percent increased risk for a first heart attack among patients on Celebrex and a 32 percent increased risk for those taking Vioxx. Naproxen, an NSAID sold as Aleve, showed a slight increase in heart-attack risk, but the data was not clinically significant, researchers said.
Merck and Co. voluntarily withdrew Vioxx, a COX-2 inhibitor, from the market in September after researchers found the drug doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
"We think that enough concerns exist to warrant a reconsideration of the cardiovascular safety of all NSAIDs," said Julia Hippisley-Cox, lead investigator of the British study and a professor of epidemiology at the University of Nottingham. Her analysis is reported Saturday in the British Medical Journal.
Dr. David L. Brown, chief of cardiovascular medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital, said evidence continues to mount against certain NSAIDs. Patients treated with ibuprofen or diclofenac should discuss it with their physicians, he said.
The British Heart Foundation says the study does not answer satisfactorily the question of whether conventional types of NSAIDs increase the risk of heart problems.
'For now, any patients who are prescribed NSAIDs should be reassured that the results indicated a very low incidence of heart attack,' The British Heart Foundation added
Despite the questions around the study, financial analysts at Sarasin said the study could have an influence on doctor's drug prescription behaviour concerning the drug dose and length of therapy.
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