Common painkillers linked to irregular heart rhythm: study
Commonly used painkillers to treat inflammation are linked to an
increased risk of irregular heart rhythm (known as atrial
fibrillation or flutter), concludes a study published in the
British Medical Journal today. These drugs have already been
linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, but no
study has examined whether they increase the risk of atrial
fibrillation a condition which is associated with an increased
long term risk of stroke, heart failure, and death. So a team of
researchers, led by Professor Henrik Toft Sørensen at Aarhus
University Hospital in Denmark, used the Danish National
Registry of Patients to identify 32,602 patients with a first
diagnosis of atrial fibrillation or flutter between 1999 and
2008. Each case was compared with 10 age and sex-matched control
patients randomly selected from the Danish population. Patients
were classified as current or recent NSAID users. Current users
were further classified as new us