Vioxx, Celebrex face the music again as study says they cause death in heart patients
DALLAS - Painkillers like Merck's Vioxx and Pfizer's Celebrex took a hammering once again as a Danish study found that they increase the chances of death in people who had survived previous heart attacks. These findings were released at the American Heart Association conference here on Sunday. These drugs called COX-2 inhibitors, should be strictly avoided in patients who have had a heart attack, said Dr. Gunnar Gislason, a research fellow at Bispebjerg University Hospital in Copenhagen and lead researcher in the current study. This new research comes as another nail in the very large coffin that the class of drugs called NSAIDs find themselves in.Gislason's study found that patients taking 25 milligrams of rofecoxib, which is the content of Vioxx, were five times more likely to succumb to heart disease than patients who did not take the drug.
Also patients taking a 200 mg daily dose of another painkiller called celecoxib, contained in Celebrex, were 4.2 times more likely to die than patients who did not take the drug. The researchers carried out an observational study among 58,432 men and women in the Danish National Patients Registry between 1995 and 2002.These patients had been discharged from the hospital after a acute heart attack. Researchers also found that taking 100 milligrams a day of Cataflam and Voltaren (diclofenac) put patients at a risk of 3.76 times more than patients who did not use these drugs. Vioxx is mainly used as a pain killer in arthritic conditions which generally occur in old age. "Patients with a previous myocardial infarction (heart attack) should, if at all possible, avoid high-dose NSAID and Cox-2 inhibitors at any dose. Patients with severe pain that can be relieved by these drugs may choose to be treated, but they need to discuss the balance between benefit and risk carefully with their doctors," said Gislason. He added that there are major concerns with NSAIDs and that they had to be taken with caution.
Also patients taking a 200 mg daily dose of another painkiller called celecoxib, contained in Celebrex, were 4.2 times more likely to die than patients who did not take the drug. The researchers carried out an observational study among 58,432 men and women in the Danish National Patients Registry between 1995 and 2002.These patients had been discharged from the hospital after a acute heart attack. Researchers also found that taking 100 milligrams a day of Cataflam and Voltaren (diclofenac) put patients at a risk of 3.76 times more than patients who did not use these drugs. Vioxx is mainly used as a pain killer in arthritic conditions which generally occur in old age. "Patients with a previous myocardial infarction (heart attack) should, if at all possible, avoid high-dose NSAID and Cox-2 inhibitors at any dose. Patients with severe pain that can be relieved by these drugs may choose to be treated, but they need to discuss the balance between benefit and risk carefully with their doctors," said Gislason. He added that there are major concerns with NSAIDs and that they had to be taken with caution.
posted by Chris Placitella at 6:41 AM
1 Comments:
My name is Jane Eaton and i would like to show you my personal experience with Celebrex.
I have taken for 11 months. I am 39 years old. Celebrex works too well, which is why it is so dangerous. It is one of the most effective things you can take for arthritis-type issues, and for controlling inflammation/pain after knee surgery. But the side effects are very extreme: intestinal bleeding/perforation, heart problems, and liver toxicity. I am allergic to Ibuprofen and Alleve, so Clebrex was a life saver. But I am not willing to sacrifice my liver for it. The ER staff told me that they see very serious side effects in Celebrex patients.
Side effects-
I ended up in the emergency room in extreme pain and hyperventilating because of liver problems.
I hope this information will be useful to others,
Jane Eaton
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