Heart patients should not be given many common pain-killers, researchers warned last night.
Drugs such as ibuprofen are strongly linked to an increased risk of heart patients having a new heart attack, Danish researchers found.
Experts said the findings went beyond current advice that the drugs – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – should be used "with caution" on heart patients.
The Danish researchers found that taking the drugs increased the risk of having a heart attack by nearly half.
Anne-Marie Schjerning Olsen, of Copenhagen University Hospital, studied some 83,000 patients – who suffered more than 35,000 heart attacks or deaths between them.
Writing in Circulation, she says the common drug, diclofenac, poses the greatest risk – increasing the risk of illness or death by more than three times.
Dr Mike Knapton, of the British Heart Foundation, said: “We have known for some time that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be used with caution in patients with heart disease.
"This study suggests that even short-term use appears to carry a significant risk in patients who’ve had a heart attack.
"In practice this study emphasises the need for extremely careful use of these painkillers in people who’ve had a heart attack. If you are in pain there are effective alternatives, such a paracetamol or codeine. But you should always talk this through with your doctor to weigh up the pros and cons of all medication options."
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