Milan City, Italy : Patients who regularly take Ibuprofen and other painkillers are up to 20 percent more likely to develop heart failure, a major Italian study has shown.
Long-term use of the medication causes chemical reactions in the body, which place extra strain on the heart, research suggests.
This can lead to heart failure in patients who have a history of previous heart attacks or high blood pressure. An estimated 900,000 adults in Britain have heart failure, which occurs when the muscle becomes too weak to pump blood around the body. It causes extreme tiredness, breathlessness and swelling of the legs and is a long-term condition that can’t be cured, Mail Online health news reported.
The study published in the journal BMJ Open involved ten million patients from the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. Those prescribed painkillers known as Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), which includes ibuprofen were 20 percent more likely on average to be admitted to hospital with heart failure. The findings showed ibuprofen increased the risk of heart failure by 18 percent if taken regularly.
Diclofenac, used for arthritis, raised the likelihood by 19 percent and Ketorolac, a less common drug, increased it by 83 per cent.
And for those who took NSAIDs daily for a year or more the risk almost doubled compared to if they were not taking them at all.
Lead author Dr Giovanni Corrao, from the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy, said these types of painkillers were being ‘inappropriately overused’.
The pills are commonly taken by the elderly for long-term conditions such as arthritis and other muscular pain. But these are the patients who are also at the highest risk of heart failure, and may have previously suffered heart attacks.
From his side, Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation Professor Peter Weisberg said: “Since heart and joint problems often coexist, particularly in the elderly, this study serves as a reminder to doctors to consider carefully how they prescribe NSAIDs. And to patients, that they should only take the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible time.” “They should discuss their treatment with their General Practitioner (GP) if they have any concerns. It has been known for some years now that such drugs need to be used with caution in patients with, or at high risk of, heart disease.
This applies mostly to those who take them on a daily basis rather than only occasionally.”
On the other side, Dr Tim Chico, an expert in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Sheffield, said the risk was low for patients who only took NSAIDs occasionally and had no previous risk of heart attacks. In July, the American Heart Association (AHA) urged doctors to check patients were not taking Ibuprofen or similar painkillers for long periods over concerns of their links to heart failure.
The organization is one of the largest and most influential in the world and their recommendations have been closely heeded by doctors in the UK.
Helen Williams, consultant pharmacist for cardiovascular disease at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said the most commonly used drugs posed the lowest risk.
“The National Health Services (NHS) has moved away from more potent NSAIDs because of the established increased risk of heart attacks and strokes with these medicines,” she said.
SM/IINA