Cox-2 inhibitors too aggravate gastrointestinal problems

Cox-2 inhibitors too aggravate gastrointestinal problems

Painkillers known as cox-2 inhibitors, which were considered safe for the stomach, are no less harmful to the stomach's lining compared to the older drugs, according to study appearing in December 3 issue of British Medical Journal.

These drugs were supposed to have been specifically prepared to relieve pain without causing gastrointestinal bleeding which was the case with traditional anti-inflammatory medications.

Researchers at University of Nottingham carried out the study on various patients. They looked up 367 general practices for upper gastrointestinal events cases including stomach bleeding or ulcer. They matched each case with up to 10 control patients. All the patients' prescriptions were checked for aspirin and anti-inflammatory drugs.

45 percent of 9,407 patients had received traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and 10 percent had been prescribed a cox-2 inhibitor in the previous three years.

The current users of cox-2 inhibitors and NSAID users were prone to adverse gastrointestinal problems. There was no proof of improved gastrointestinal safety with any of the new cox-2 inhibitors when compared to NSAIDs, the researchers concluded.

The authors of the study said: "We found no consistent evidence of enhanced safety against gastrointestinal events with any of the new cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitors [cox-2 inhibitors], compared with non-selective, nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs.”

One of the researchers added: “It is right to take aspirin for your heart and a cox-2 inhibitor for joint pain. But when you combine these two, they really present GI problems.”

The researchers averred that risk of a stomach problem for patients using NSAIDS was lower when they were also taking drugs to heal ulcers.

In fact, COX-2 inhibitors include Vioxx, which is an arthritis drug produced by Merck & Co. It was reported that this aggravated the risk of stroke and blood pressure.

Merck removed Vioxx from the market last year after these results were produced.