March 12, 2007 – Common pain relievers like Aspirin, Tylenol and Advil may cause high blood pressure in people who use them regularly, Harvard University researchers say1.
More than 16,000 men who did not initially have high blood pressure participated in the four-year cohort study. The results indicate that the non-narcotic pain relievers – acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen and ibuprofen – would have increased blood pressure.
People who took 15 or more nonsteroidal pain relievers per week had their risk of hypertension increased by 48%, compared to those who did not take any of these drugs. The increase is greater for those taking acetaminophen and ibuprofen than for those taking aspirin.
It is not yet clear how these pain relievers could have such an effect. Researchers believe they neutralize the relaxation mechanism in blood vessels and may cause sodium retention, two phenomena associated with elevated blood pressure.
The results of two similar studies had already indicated that acetaminophen and NSAIDs (ibuprofen, for example) had a hypertensive action in women.2.3. The results of the recent study by Harvard researchers indicate that acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) is also hypertensive, although to a lesser degree.
The results of a meta-analysis of 50 clinical trials4 also indicated, as early as 1994, that NSAIDs had a hypertensive effect and that they could counter the action of drugs prescribed to people suffering from arterial hypertension.
All of this data prompts Harvard researchers to preach caution in the use of over-the-counter pain relievers.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
According to Reuters Health and cyberpresse.ca
1. Forman JP, Rimm EB, Curhan GC. Frequency of analgesic use and risk of hypertension among men. Arch Intern Med. 2007 Feb 26; 167 (4): 394-9.
2. Curhan GC, Willett WC, Rosner B, Stampfer MJ. Frequency of analgesic use and risk of hypertension in younger women. Arch Intern Med. 2002 Oct 28; 162 (19): 2204-8.
3. Forman JP, Stampfer MJ, Curhan GC. Non-narcotic analgesic dose and risk of incident hypertension in US women. Hypertension. 2005 Sep; 46 (3): 500-7. Epub 2005 Aug 15. Full text: http://hyper.ahajournals.org
4. Johnson AG, Nguyen TV, Day RO. Do nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs affect blood pressure? A meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 1994 Aug 15; 121 (4): 289-300. Full text: www.annals.org