NSAIDs – increasing the risk of heart disease...
The British Medical Journal today published a study that is sure
to send shockwaves around arthritis sufferers already trying to come
to terms with revelations concerning Vioxx and Celebrex.
The NSAIDs that are now thought to increase the risk of heart
disease mortality include Vioxx (already withdrawn), celecoxib,
diclofenac and ibuprofen.
‘Experts’ have been quick to minimize the risks but judge for
yourself.
Ibuprofen 24% risk increase this translates to one first-time heart
attack in 1,005 users
Rofecoxib 32% risk increase this translates to one first-time heart attack in 695 users
Diclofenac 55% risk increase this translates to one first-time heart
attack in 512 users
A spokesperson for the UK-based Arthritis Research Campaign said,
‘It is very important that people don’t panic; hundreds of thousands
of arthritis sufferers take these drugs without problems or side
effects.’
Imagine if every thousandth child that crossed the road was hit by a
car. How long would it be before parents started protesting to the
authorities? This is again the message of ‘ignore the facts and go
on taking the medicine so that we can be left to make profits in
peace’.
According to the BBC, Professor Peter Weissberg of the British Heart
Foundation said, ‘it would be wrong to change clinical practice on
the basis of current evidence’* He did, however, call for more
safety investigations.
‘For now, any patients who are prescribed NSAIDs should be reassured
that the results indicated a very low incidence of heart attack.
People may consider the possible slight increased risk to be
acceptable when offset against the welcome pain relief that the
medicines can offer.’
That may be debatable if you are the one who gets the heart attack.
If you would prefer not to accept such blandishments, you might want
to consider an alternative.
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* Professor Weissberg seems to have overlooked early studies
reported in the Lancet in 2003 (Feb 14) that showed that ibuprofen
cancelled out any benefit gained from aspirin while creating a 75%
increased risk of fatal heart attack over those using aspirin alone.