Commonly used painkillers such as Motrin, Advil and Aleve might increase your risk for heart attack, even in the first week of use, a new study suggests.
Overall, these drugs and others known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) increase the risk of a heart attack by 20-50%, compared with not using them, researchers found. For most people, however, this represents only a small increased risk – about 1% a year, the researchers said.
Still, “from the viewpoint of public health, even small increases in risk of heart attack are important because use of NSAIDs is so widespread,” said lead researcher Michele Bally. She’s an epidemiologist at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center.
The increased risk of heart attack associated with NSAIDs was seen at any dose taken for one week, one month or more than one month. And the risk rose with higher doses, the study found.
To lower your odds for heart harm, she suggested considering all available treatment alternatives before deciding to treat occasional pain, fever or inflammation. Read the label of NSAID medications and use the lowest possible effective dose, added Bally, who was a doctoral student at McGill University in Montreal at the time of the study.
The NSAIDs the researchers studied were ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil); naproxen (Aleve); diclofenac (Voltaren); celecoxib (Celebrex); and rofecoxib (Vioxx). Vioxx was pulled from the U.S. market in 2004 because it increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The risk of heart attack linked to NSAIDs was greatest with higher doses during the first month of use, Bally said. The researchers found that daily doses of more than 1,200 mg of ibuprofen and over 750 mg of naproxen were particularly harmful within those first 30 days.
