Painkillers’ Links with Blood Pressure
Painkillers can cause side effects in some people – aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) like naprosyn and ibuprofen cause stomach bleeding and paracetamol can cause liver damage if you too many tablets are taking them.
Recdebt studies however have linked NSAIDs with an increased risk of heart attack and now another study suggests that painkillers – even aspirin and paracetamol – can elevate blood pressure if taken continuously.
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, looked at 16,031 male health professionals – average age 65 – with no history of hypertension. By the end of the four years, nearly 2000 men had developed high blood pressure.
The researchers took into account things like age, weight, smoking status, physical activity and diet, alcohol intake and family history of hypertension of each man.
Those who used acetaminophen (known as paracetamol in Australia) six or seven days a week had a 34 per cent greater risk of hypertension compared to non-users. Those who took aspirin had a 26 per cent greater risk and those who took NSAIDs had a 38 per cent higher risk.
The more pills they took, the higher the risk. Those who took between 6 and 14 pills a week, for example, raised their risk by 53 per cent (if they took paracetamol) and 32 per cent (taking aspirin).
People using painkillers occasionally to relieve acute pain, have only a small risk, but those taking them continuously, for example for arthritis or some other chronic condition, should talk to theri doctor to see if there are alternative ways of preventing symptoms – especially if they already suffer from high blood pressure or another risk factor for arterial disease, like obesity, high blood fats, smoking and or a family history of heart disease.
