Two common painkillers increase heart problems

Taking two painkillers – ibuprofen and diclofenac – in high doses for a long period of time can slightly increase the risk of heart problems, says a large study published in The Lancet. And the risk for smokers and people who are overweight are even higher, found the team from the University of Oxford.

Scientists looked at records from over 353,000 people from 639 clinical trials to assess the impact of high-dose prescription levels of  diclofenac (150mg) or ibuprofen (2,400mg) each day.

For every 1,000 people taking the drugs there were an additional three heart attacks, four extra cases of heart failure and one death along with cases of stomach bleeding (every year). The number of heart attacks a year therefore increases from 8 per 1,000 people to 11 per 1,000 people.

“Three per thousand per year sounds like it is quite a low risk, but the judgement has to be made by patients,” says Prof Colin Baigent, lead researcher. “So if you’re a patient and you go and sit in front of your doctor and discuss it, you are the one who should be making the judgement about whether three per thousand per year is worth it to allow you, potentially, to go about your daily life.”

The risk of heart problems in relation to the drugs is increased further by high blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking.

The findings are not relevant to people taking a short course of the drugs.

Every year there are over 17 million prescriptions of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the UK; two- thirds are ibuprofen or diclofenac.

The study also looked at a third painkiller – naproxen – which had lower risks of heart