Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) such as Celebrex and ibuprofen may increase the risk of bleeding in heart attack or stroke survivors.
The findings of the latest study may cause concern for heart attack survivors as two antithrombotic drugs, aspirin and clopidogrel, are recommended to these patients as a preventive measure for up to a year following a heart attack. Doctors also recommend heart attack survivors to continue taking one anti-clotting pill thereafter.
A Danish study examined the use of NSAID in about 62,000 patients, who had survived one or more heart attacks. All the patients were 30 years or older and more than 60 percent of the patients were male. All the patients were on at least one type of anti-clotting drug.
The study found that during a follow-up period of around 3.5 years, about 30 percent patients were re-hospitalized due to one more heart attack or heart disease. About 10 percent of the patients suffered bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, head and/or urinary tract or. The study also found that 30 percent patients also died through the follow-up study period.
The researchers suggest that more than 33 percent of these patients were consuming at least one NSAID along with an anti-clotting drug. The study claims that the combined use of anti-clotting drug and NSAID significantly elevated their risk of heart disease or even death.
"I would say that this issue may be an even bigger cause for concern in the U.S. than among the study population because Europeans generally have less access to over-the-counter NSAIDs than Americans. I'll bet NSAID usage among American heart attack survivors is even higher," says Dr. Charles Campbell, chief of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Tennessee Erlanger Health Systems in Chattanooga.
Dr. Campbell also warns that doctors should advise heart attack survivors on the risks involved with NSAID, except low dose of aspirin.
This is not the first study that points out the risk of NSAID use following a heart attack. In 2007, the American Heart Association (AHA) has recommended to avoid NSAID use in patients suffering with cardiovascular disease.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about 735,000 Americans suffer from a heart attack each year, which includes 525,000 cases of first heart attack. About 210,000 heart attacks per year are happen in people who have already had a heart attack.
The researchers suggest that the latest study should encourage doctors to confirm the risks of NSAID to heart attack patients before prescribing them.
The study has been published in The Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA).
