Short Term Use of Painkillers Could Be Dangerous to Heart Patients

ScienceDaily ^ | May 10, 2011 | NA

[RetSignman]

I was supposed to take 500mg of naproxen this AM after breakfast but I didn’t take it and won’t until I’ve talked to another doctor.

[neverdem]

"Aspirin is the granddaddy of all NSAIDs. All of these patients, except those with an aspirin allergy, were probably prescribed at least a baby aspirin."

The first sentence in the presser:

"Even short-term use of some painkillers could be dangerous for people who've had a heart attack, according to research published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association."

This is confusing. Can you comment on the 81mg daily aspirin regimen prescribed for prevention?

The anti-inflammatory naproxen has some linkage to cardio problems, but baby aspirin?

These folks already had a myocardial infarction, aka "heart attack." Unless they had an allergy to aspirin or another NSAID, they would be taking at least 81 milligrams of aspirin, aka a baby aspirn, for secondary prevention, i.e. to prevent another myocardial infarction. Otherwise, it's malpractice.

Primary prevention with a baby aspirin would be to prevent an initial myocardial infarction when there are enough risk factors, e.g. high blood pressure, diabetes, age, family history, etc.

Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors and the Antiplatelet Effects of Aspirin

Low-dose naproxen interferes with the antiplatelet effects of aspirin in healthy subjects: Recommendations to minimize the functional consequences

Aspirin irreversibly inhibits platelet aggregation. Other NSAIDs reversibly inhibit platelet aggregation, and so interfere with the job done by aspirin.

If you have chronic pain, consider Cobroxin. It's made from cobra toxin. It comes as an oral spray and topical gel. It's over the counter, so it's out of pocket. There are other non-opoiod drugs derived from natural sources in development, e.g. snail poison and a chemically modified marijuana with no psychoactive effects.

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FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

[decimon]

Ping

[Gene Eric]

The clarification helped. Thanks.

[Gene Eric]

>> Aspirin is an effective platelet inhibitor and works to prevent clot formation in diseased unstable atherosclerotic plaques in your arteries.

That was my understanding, but not exactly in those terms.

[djf]

More and more I am coming to think that the standard clinical trial setup is worthless. Even the gold standard of double blind.

You simply cannot control all the variables. Some people say tomayto, others say tomahto.

There are a number of vids on Youtube lately that show how gene expression AMONGST IDENTICAL TWINS shows a large divergence as they age.

OTOH, I think there is good evidence that a few grams of HCN would not be good for most people...

:-)

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

If I ever get to the point of so much pain that my oral fairly high doses of Vit C and rubbing castor oil on the pain does not do the job, I am interested in trying intravenous Vit C for the pain.

It makes interesting reading to google it. I know of no one who has done it but from what I read it is very effective and instead of having undesirable side effects, it actually improves your health. I do know of a doctor within reasonable driving distance who does this.

[Silentgypsy]

I’m high risk per family history for CV disease. Prior to major abdominal surgery, I took 2400-3200 mg. ibuprofen for abdominal pain and headaches. After second major abd surgery, the surgeon prescribed IV ketorolac (sp?) or Toradol around the clock. I required no narcotics after that surgery and didn’t have an ileus, sepsis, or any of the other complications I had after the first surgery.
I’m old and have no aches or pains; no headaches, either.
It seems like there are a lot of factors involved here. I wouldn’t have been able to work had it not been for ibuprofen.
Now I don’t take pain meds.

[KeyWest]

“prescription non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)”

Prescription generally means high doses, so the study seems more scary than it may be. You can get 200mg Ibuprofen OTC but the 800mg is only by prescription. Aspirin at 800mg is probably also by prescription, so I would take this study with a bit of caution concerning any blanket indictment of NASIDs other than at high dosages.