Summary
New studies say that the popular painkiller Bextra, when taken with aspirin, seems to significantly increase a patient's risk of heart attack. Bextra is among several new painkillers that are undergoing intense scrutiny from regulators because the drugs have been implicated in some heart attack cases. Vioxx has been taken off the market, and the license for Celebrex is currently under review.
Original source:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,144805,00.html
Details
Combining aspirin (search) with the painkiller Bextra (search) may magnify the heart-related risks associated with Bextra and similar drugs.
They suggest that combining Bextra with aspirin may increase the risk of blood clots that could trigger a heart attack or stroke.
Last month, the FDA added anew warning to Bextra, which states that Bextra should not be used in patients undergoing heart bypass surgery after a clinical trial showed an increase in heart problems in bypass patients using Bextra.
A similar drug, Vioxx (search), was removed from the market in September 2004 because of an increase in heart attacks and stroke in patients taking the drug for at least 18 months.
A third, similar drug, Celebrex, was linked to heart attacks last month as well.
Like the other Cox-2 inhibitors, Vioxx and Celebrex (search), it was designed to treat arthritis and other painful conditions.
Older drugs like ibuprofen (search) and naproxen (search) treat pain and inflammation by blocking two enzymes, Cox-1 and Cox-2.
In the studies, which appear in the Jan. 17 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers examined some potential mechanisms behind the increase in heart problems associated with Cox-2 inhibitors.
In the first study, researchers studied the effects of Bextra and aspirin on hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) in mice prone to the condition.
They found that low-dose aspirin slowed the development of atherosclerosis in the mice, but it seemed ineffective once the disease was established.
"We were amazed," says researcher Karine Egan, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, in a news release.
By adding a Cox-2 inhibitor, researchers say the beneficial effects of aspirin may be lost by tipping the balance in favor of the Cox-1 enzyme.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also the founder of a well known HTML email software company whose 'Email Marketing Director' software currently runs the NaturalNews subscription database. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Email this article to a friend
Share
this article on: 
