December 6, 2016 -NSAIDs and the Heart

Posted on Posted in All Podcasts, Health Newsfeed, Heart And Vascular

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Anchor lead:  How do some types of pain relievers effect your heart? Elizabeth Tracey reports

A study presented at the recent American Heart Association meeting comparing the pain relievers celecoxib or Celebrex, naproxen and ibuprofen for people with chronic arthritis pain found no increased heart risk for celecoxib.  Michael Blaha, a preventive cardiology expert at Johns Hopkins, interprets the results.

Blaha: While this study doesn’t show that NSAIDs and the related Cox-2 inhibitors are safe it does show if you need to be on a chronic pain medication, for example for rheumatoid arthritis, it does appear the celecoxib is just as safe, if not safer, than ibuprofen and naproxen, with cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and kidney endpoints.  :20

The study was also practical.

Blaha: This is a very real world study in a very difficult patient population that’s difficult to treat, and that’s chronic arthritis.  In my patients with chronic arthritis who need these pain medications I will consider using celecoxib in those patients who need chronic pain therapy.  :14

At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.