Ibuprofen and other commonly used painkillers may increase the risk of heart attack, reported eight newspapers (10 June 2005). The reports were accurately based on an observational study that suggested a fairly small absolute increase in risk associated with the prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflamatory drugs (NSAIDs) in primary care.
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Eight newspapers (1-8) reported that ibuprofen and other painkillers for treating inflammation increase the risk of heart attack. Most newspapers specifically reported that ibuprofen increased the risk of suffering a heart attack by 24%, diclofenac by 55% and rofecoxib by 32%. Four (1,4,6,7) newspapers also reported on numbers needed to harm (NNH) for those aged 65 and over.
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The articles are based on a large four-year, population-based nested case-control study from the UK (9). This compared 9128 cases of first time heart attacks to 86,349 matched controls with respect to the use of Cox-2 inhibitors and other NSAIDs. The study found that current use of rofecoxib, diclofenac, and ibuprofen was associated with a significantly increased risk of suffering a heart attack. The authors acknowledge that as an observational study, the findings could be explained by other factors.
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The details reported by the newspaper articles were largely accurate, although three articles (2,4,7) report a increase risk of heart attack for celecoxib though this was not a statistically significant result. Three articles (1,2,5) highlighted the fact that the people in the study received prescription pain relief and therefore might be systematically different from people who buy drugs such as ibuprofen over the counter. Most of the newspapers report people taking these drugs should not stop taking them without consulting their GP.
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