Popular painkillers can increase heart attack risks, especially in older people with

[snagglepuss]

with arthritis and heart problems who take the drugs regularly and in large doses.


snip

Over-the-counter painkillers used for treating inflammation, such as ibuprofen, may double or treble the risk of heart attacks and strokes in vulnerable people, researchers warn.

People who take the drugs occasionally for a headache or period pains are unlikely to be affected, but older people with arthritis and heart problems who take the drugs regularly and in large doses are at a higher risk.

Researchers in Switzerland analysed 31 trials involving 116,429 patients to estimate the cardiovascular risks of all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) against placebos. Previous research has suggested an increased risk of cardiovascular problems linked with the drugs. They found that ibuprofen increased the risk of stroke threefold, while diclofenac and etoricoxib had four times the risk of causing death from heart attack or stroke. Naproxen was the least harmful among the seven drugs analysed. The study is published in the British Medical Journal.


Professor Peter Juni, head of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Bern, Switzerland, who led the study, said: "If you are taking the drugs for acute conditions such as a headache and you are under 65, don't have heart problems, have normal cholesterol and don't smoke, it is probably fine. The problem is greater for elderly people who take the drugs regularly for chronic pain and have heart trouble. For these people the estimated annual rate of death from cardiovascular disease is already 1 to 2 per cent. Taking these drugs will double or treble that risk."


http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/popular-painkillers-can-increase-heart-attack-risks-study-shows-2182239.html

[truedelphi]

1. And often the caregivers hired by the families are clueless.

The last case I was on, one of my co-workers gave the patient morphine. I refused to give massive amounts of Tylenol when patient was on morphine, because what would be the point? No one has any pain if given morphine. And Tylenol does affect the usual suspects (especially liver and kidneys) in negative ways.

But other co-workers complained I was "disregarding the written out" drug protocols.

It was even more surreal when the one co-worker who was a licensed RN told me, "Tylenol cannot cause any problems or it wouldn't be sold over the counter!"

[kickysnana]

2. "No one has any pain if given morphine"

That is not true either. Morphine does not work on inflammation it only masks pain. Different pain medicines work differently. On the other hand too much of anything is a bad idea.

If this study was done to allow doctors to properly administer pain meds then it is a good thing. If it was paid for by pharmaceutical companies to help sell a new more expensive pain med then it is not.

My 2 cents. Having been in extreme pain for a few years a while ago a nice killer heart attack might be a good thing if the pain cannot be controlled.

[truedelphi]

6. When you re being given enough morphine to sleep

85% of the time, except for meals and a few odd moments of watching TV, you aren't in pain.

Plus myself and the other co-workers - we did ask the patient. He was always saying how great he felt, with the morphine.

[kickysnana]

7. My Dad was out AND writhing in pain after his bypass. n/t

[old mark]

3. Tylenol is poison and will ruin your liver rapidly , especially if you drink alcohol.

For many years, Tylenol was the drug of choice in suicides in Europe, yet here in the US most hospitals will give you Tylenol without a second thought. It pays to advertise...and to keep the bad news quiet.


mark

[LiberalEsto]

4. We can "thank" Johnson & Johnson

for relentlessly promoting Tylenol in spite of its known hazards.

[old mark]

5. Many people in health care in the US do not even KNOW about the

hazards...there is very little information about that here.


mark