Ibuprofen Can Increase Heart Attack Risk, Study Suggests

Ibuprofen Leads to Heart Attack, Study Suggests 

A new study out of Denmark shows people who took over-the-counter NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), including Ibuprofen, had an increased risk of heart attack.

The 10-year study, published Wednesday in the European Heart Journal, looked at 30,000 Danish patients who had heart attacks outside of a hospital. Researchers found the use of ibuprofen was associated with a 31% increased heart attack risk.

It's thought NSAIDs can cause constriction of arteries that control blood flow to the heart, blood clotting and a rise in blood pressure.

Prof Gunnar Gislason of the University of Copenhagen, who led the study, called for tighter controls on the sale of ibuprofen and other NSAIDs. "Allowing these drugs to be purchased without a prescription, and without any advice or restrictions, sends a message to the public that they must be safe," he told The Guardian.

Gislason said people should not take more than 1,200mg of ibuprofen in one day.  

This is not the first time doctors have warned about the use of NSAIDS, as they can cause serious gastrointestinal problems, too, CBN News reporterd.

While avoiding ibuprofen could help lower your chances of having a heart attack, there is another type of pain reliever that actually helps prevent a heart attack and can even save your life during one: aspirin.

According to Harvard Medical School, aspirin can help prevent heart attacks in patients with coronary artery disease and in healthy men over 50 years of age. Only low doses, between 81 and 325 mg a day, are needed.

If you experience a heart attact, first call 9-1-1. Then immediately chew a 325 mg tablet of aspirin.  Chewing it gets it into your system faster.  Also, Make sure it is not coated.  The coating causes it to act too slowly, even if chewed.

Aspirin helps by inhibiting platelets in the bloodstream to form clots, which can block an artery carrying oxygen to the heart. Since a clot can grow minute by minute, time is of the essence.