Use
of common pain relievers associated with increased
risk of elevated blood pressure in men
Newswise — Men who regularly
take commonly available and widely used pain
relievers may have an increased risk of high blood
pressure compared with those who do not use these
medications, according to a report in the Feb. 26
issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one
of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Acetaminophen, ibuprofen and
aspirin are among the most commonly used drugs in
the United States, according to background
information in the article. Two large studies have
recently suggested that pain-relieving medications
(analgesics) may be associated with an increased
risk of hypertension (high blood pressure) in women.
However, the association has not been extensively
studied in men.
John P. Forman, M.Sc., M.D., of
Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical
School, Boston, and colleagues followed a total of
16,031 male health professionals (average age 64.6
years) who did not have a history of high blood
pressure.
The men were asked in 2000 and
again in 2002 about whether and how often they used
three types of pain relievers: acetaminophen,
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, which
include ibuprofen and naproxen) and aspirin. They
were also asked to report if their physician had
diagnosed them with hypertension.
Over four years of follow-up,
1,968 men developed hypertension. Compared with men
who did not take analgesics, those who took
acetaminophen six or seven days a week had a 34
percent higher risk of hypertension. Those who took
NSAIDs six or seven days a week had a 38 percent
higher risk and those who took aspirin six or seven
days a week had a 26 percent higher risk. The
researchers also looked at the total number of
pain-relieving pills men took each week, regardless
of type. Compared with men who took no pills, those
who took 15 or more pills each week had a 48 percent
higher risk of hypertension.
All three types of analgesics
may inhibit the effects of chemicals that relax the
blood vessels, decreasing blood pressure, the
authors suggest. Acetaminophen also may impair cell
functioning through high levels of oxygen (oxidative
stress) or reduce the proper functioning of blood
vessel lining.
“These data add further support
to the hypothesis that non-narcotic analgesics
independently elevate the risk of hypertension,” the
authors write. “Given their common consumption and
the high prevalence of hypertension, our results may
have substantial public health implications and
suggest that these agents be used with greater
caution. The contribution of non-narcotic analgesics
to the hypertension disease burden merits further
study.”