Common painkillers can risk your heart: study

Washington: Common painkillers or Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are used to alleviate fever symptoms and reduce pain, have more side effects than previously believed, as per a new study.

The Aarhus University study shows that arthritis medicine is particularly dangerous for heart patients and also that older types of arthritis medicine, which have not previously been in focus, also appear to be dangerous for the heart.

Lead author Morten Schmidt said that it's been well-known that newer types of NSAIDs, what are known as COX-2 inhibitors, increase the risk of heart attacks and so, many newer types of NSAIDs have been taken off the market again.

He added "We can now see that some of the older NSAID types, particularly Diclofenac, are also associated with an increased risk of heart attack and apparently to the same extent as several of the types that were taken off the market."

As per Schmidt, this is worrying, because these older types of medicine are frequently used throughout the western world and in many countries available without prescription.

In the study, the researchers have gathered all research on the use of NSAIDs in patients with heart disease. The survey means that the European Society of Cardiology has now for the first time formulated a number of recommendations about what doctors should consider before prescribing painkillers to their patients.

Christian Torp-Pedersen, Aalborg University, Denmark, added, "When doctors issue prescriptions for NSAIDs, they must in each individual case carry out a thorough assessment of the risk of heart complications and bleeding. NSAIDs should only be sold over the counter when it comes with an adequate warning about the associated cardiovascular risks. In general, NSAIDs are not be used in patients who have or are at high- risk of cardiovascular diseases."

The study is published in European Heart Journal.