NEWS « Back to News NSAID: NON-STEROIDAL ANTIINFLAMMATORY DRUGS HAVE BEEN LINKED TO AN INCREASED CARDIOVASCULAR RISK IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS 28/06/2010 Diclofenac, the selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, have been linked to a statistically significant increased cardiovascular risk, including fatal or nonfatal stroke and coronary death or nonfatal Miocardial Infarction. This study is the first to find the relationship between cause-specific cardiovascular risk and NSAIDs among healthy individuals. The entire Danish population age 10 years or more consisted of 4.614.807 individuals on January 1, 1997, of which 2.663.706 (57.8%) claimed at least 1 prescription for NSAIDs during 1997 to 2005. Of these; 1.028.437 individuals were included in the study after applying selection criteria, regarding comorbidity and concomitant pharmacotherapy. Use of the nonselective NSAID diclofenac and the selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor rofecoxib was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death, with a dose-dependent increase in risk. There was an increased risk of fatal or nonfatal stroke associated with ibuprofen treatment, but naproxen was not associated with increased cardiovascular risk. The increased risk associated with diclofenac is of particular importance because it is one of the most commonly used NSAIDs worldwide. Authors think that this may be because diclofenac is almost as cyclooxygenase-2–selective as rofecoxib which was withdrawn from the market in 2004 because of poor cardiovascular safety. Furthermore, all NSAIDs (except for celecoxib) were also linked to a substantial increase in risk of serious bleedings. Source Information Cause-Specific Cardiovascular Risk Associated With Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drugs Among Healthy Individuals Emil Loldrup Fosbøl, MB; Fredrik Folke, MD; Søren Jacobsen, MD, DMSc; Jeppe N. Rasmussen, MD, PhD; Rikke Sørensen, MD; Tina Ken Schramm, MD;