The widely used over-the-counter painkiller ibuprofen—found in Motrin and Advil—may heighten the risk of cardiovascular complications in patients suffering from osteoarthritis that are taking aspirin regularly to help reduce their heart risks, finds a new study.
Study authors hypothesized that ibuprofen may cancel out the heart-protective benefits of daily aspirin therapy. Their research concluded that NSAIDs (class of drugs that include ibuprofen and naproxen) do indeed up an arthritis patients’ one-year stroke and heart attack risk ninefold compared to those taking cox-2 inhibitor pain reliever.
Previous Heart Risk Concerns
While previous research has indicated that NSAIDs and cox-2 inhibitors (Vioxx, Bextra) pose serious cardiovascular adverse events, there haven’t been too many detailed studies of patients at high risk of heart problems and who are taking aspirin to reduce their cardiovascular risks.
“Most of the data that’s been generated in the past has been carried out in patients who do not have overt cardiac disease,” said Dr. Michael Farkouh, lead author of the study.
So researchers decided to examine the effects of ibuprofen on heart risk patients by reviewing data on over 18,000 people over age 50 with osteoarthritis. They compared ibuprofen and naproxen (Aleve) use to the cox-2 inhibitor Prexige.
Study Findings
According to study results, participants at high risk for cardiovascular events who took ibuprofen and aspirin were nearly nine times more likely to suffer heart attacks and strokes over the duration of one year than those taking Prexige.
Furthermore, those taking ibuprofen had an increased risk of developing congestive heart failure than patients using the cox-2 inhibitor.
The overall risk of a cardiovascular problem was low—about 2.14 percent of participants in the NSAIDs group suffered an event, compared to .25 percent in the cox-2 inhibitor group.
However, these finding could be a serious cause for concern because ibuprofen is so readily available. “If cardiac patients take ibuprofen over-the-counter, that’s a danger, because doctors aren’t aware of it,” Farkouh said. “It blocks the effect of aspirin, so there’s more heart failure, more heart at tacks, more hypertension. It’s an important public message.”
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