Saturday, September 6, 2008

Daily ibuprofen may cause heart risks

Posted by Reuters Health on Thursday, September 4, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ibuprofen may raise the risk of heart attacks and other fatal and serious problems when elderly people take it daily for arthritis, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.

They said the popular over-the-counter pain reliever was the only drug in the class that includes aspirin and other analgesics to raise the risk of serious heart disease -- along with the now-withdrawn COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx.

Full text at U.S. govermnent Medline Site...

Monday, September 1, 2008

Fish Oil Supplements Help With Heart Failure

From the Washington Post;

Daily supplements of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids -- the kind found in fish oil -- reduced deaths and hospitalizations of people with heart failure, an Italian study found.

But a cholesterol-lowering statin drug had no beneficial effect in a parallel heart failure trial.

"There is a benefit of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for heart failure patients."

Full text at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083100444.html