Pain relief medication can lead to high blood pressure

• High blood pressure is a major contributor to heart disease and strokes.
• The researchers originally reported their conclusion three years ago using data from the massive Nurses' Health Study, an epidemiological study in which more than 120,000 female nurses have been followed since 1976.
• At the time, critics charged they did not have enough data about actual dosages of the drugs or about complicating factors, such as headaches, which might have caused the increased risks.
• Hypertension can cause headaches, for example, which could lead to increased use of painkillers, rather than vice versa.
• Combined with what was already known about the drugs, "I do think this is compelling support of this association," Fonarow said.
• The study found no increased risk of hypertension from regular use of aspirin, Curhan said.
• But the authors do not recommend that women switch from ibuprofen or other drugs to aspirin because of its increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.
• Regular use of acetaminophen and related drugs triples the risk of kidney disease, and by some measures accounts for as much as 20% of all kidney disease requiring dialysis or transplants.
• The women, who participated in the original Nurses' Health Study, were given supplementary questionnaires about how much of the drugs they took and why they took them.
• Older women taking more than 500 milligrams of acetaminophen daily --- the equivalent of one extra-strength tablet --- were 93% more likely to develop hypertension than those not taking the drugs, while younger women taking the same dosage were 99% more likely.
• For ibuprofen, older women taking at least 400 milligrams per day --- two nonprescription tablets --- were 78% more likely to have high blood pressure while younger women were 60% more likely.
• Lower back pain, for example, can be treated more effectively with physical therapy than with ibuprofen or acetaminophen, Curhan said.