Ibuprofen May Boost Aspirin Users' Heart Risk

The study was funded by Novartis, the drug company that developed Prexige.

Ten percent of the participants were at high risk for a heart attack or stroke and some were taking low-dose aspirin (70 to 100 milligrams per day).

Individuals at low risk for cardiovascular disease had about the same number of heart attacks and strokes, regardless of which drug they were taking.

But high-risk patients taking aspirin and ibuprofen were about nine times more likely to have heart attacks and strokes over one year as those taking Prexige.

People taking ibuprofen were also more likely to develop congestive heart failure than those taking the cox-2 inhibitor.

The absolute risk of a problem was still low, with about 2.14 percent of those in the ibuprofen group suffering an event, versus 0.25 percent in the Prexige group.

The findings, if borne out, could be concerning, because ibuprofen is so easily available. "If cardiac patients take ibuprofen over-the-counter, that's a danger, because doctors aren't aware of it," Farkouh said. "It blocks the effect of aspirin, so there's more heart failure, more heart attacks, more hypertension. It's an important public health message."

More information

There's more on aspirin at the American Heart Association.

SOURCES: Michael Farkouh, M.D., director, Mount Sinai Heart Clinical Trials, and associate professor, medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City; E. Scott Monrad, M.D., director, interventional cardiology, Montefiore Weiler Division, New York City; Robert Scott III, M.D., assistant professor, internal medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, College Station, and senior staff cardiologist, Scott & White Hospital; April 2007,Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases