• 5/29/2005
  • Anaheim, CA
  • Red Nova (www.rednova.com)

Smokers who regularly took certain popular painkillers cut their risk of developing oral cancer but increased their chances of dying from heart-related problems, researcher say. The study raises fresh questions about the long-term use of Advil, Motrin and Aleve.

The findings add to the suspicion that the heart risk extends beyond Cox-2 medications like Bextra, Vioxx and Celebrex to the larger family of pain relievers known as nonsteroidal anti- inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. These include ibuprofen and virtually all other over-thecounter pain pills except Tylenol or other brands of acetaminophen.

Short-term use of NSAIDs — two weeks or less — for headaches or other pain is still considered safe.

However, the study of smokers in Norway is the first evidence to support the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration decision to warn about long-term use of all of these drugs except aspirin. Results were presented Monday at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Anaheim.

Many doctors have switched patients to over-the-counter NSAIDs since the prescription drugs Vioxx and Bextra were pulled from the market. The doctors believed the over-thecounter drugs to be safer.

Doctors in Norway wanted to see whether NSAIDs could prevent oral cancer because other work suggested they helped ward off other cancers. They found that heart risk was highest among ibuprofen users, who were nearly three times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than non-NSAID users.

Aspirin was the only NSAID that did not seem to raise the risk, but the number of aspirin users in the study was small. Risk not limited to Cox-2 drugs A study found that heart risks extend beyond Cox-2 drugs to the larger family known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. The group included ibuprofen and other over-the-counter pain relievers.