vioxx and heart attacks

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone, I saw this while online and thought that I would pass it on.

Barb

March 11, 2004 (New Orleans) -- The popular arthritis drug Vioxx is once

again causing concern among heart specialists. This time, a study suggests that

taking both Vioxx and high blood pressure medications doubles the risk of a

heart attack.

Whelton, MD, of Universal Clinical Research Center in Hunt Valley,

Md., tells WebMD he analyzed medical insurance claims from more than 34,000

arthritis patients to determine if arthritis drugs such as Vioxx and Celebrex,

as

well as ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin, increased the risk for heart attacks.

After accounting for other factors that increase the risk of a heart attack,

such as age and a history of heart attack, Vioxx was the only drug that

increased the risk of a heart attack. But the risk was only significant among

people

taking medications to treat high blood pressure.

Whelton, who presented his findings at the American College of Cardiology

Scientific Session 2004, says he isn't recommending that arthritis patients

avoid

Vioxx. But he says he thinks that doctors should carefully consider using the

drug in patients who are also being treated for high blood pressure.

Asked why Vioxx appeared to increase the risk for heart attack when other

arthritis treatments did not, Whelton says, " We think it is a problem with the

molecule, rather than with the drug's effect on inflammation. " But he says that

more research is needed for a definitive answer.

Vioxx Under Scrutiny

This isn't the first time that Vioxx has come under fire from heart

specialists. In 2001, researchers at The Cleveland Clinic reported in The

Journal of

the American Medical Association that people taking Vioxx or Celebrex for

arthritis were twice as likely to have a heart attack as patients taking the

arthritis drug naproxen. In 2002, the FDA required that the Vioxx label be

changed to

include information about possible increased risk of heart attack.

Vioxx and Celebrex are newer versions of anti-inflammatory drugs for

arthritis called -2 inhibitors. They were created to help decrease some of

the side

effects of older anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ulcers and bleeding in the

stomach. Bextra is the third and newest drug in this group.

Harrington, MD, professor of medicine at Duke University in Durham,

N.C., tells WebMD that a head-to-head trial between Vioxx and Celebrex would be

the only way to " really answer this question about increased risk. " Harrington

was not involved in Whelton's study.

Meanwhile, Harrington says he wouldn't advise taking patients off Vioxx

although he does suggest continued monitoring.

SOURCES: American College of Cardiology Scientific Session 2004, New Orleans,

March 7-10, 2004. Whelton, MD. Harrington, MD.

[Guest guest]

I just saw an article on CBS that Vioxx is now known to cause heart attacks

in patients with heart problems or taking large doses. Is this something we

should be concern about????

Donna Pinto

December 9, 2003

273\208

5ft 9 1/2

Little Rock

Dr. Hargroder and Dr. Wilshire

[Guest guest]

Donna,

If your taking large doses or have a bad heart you should be concerned. You

shouldn't be taking

large doses of it.

KJ

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>From: pintoauto@...

>Reply-

>

>Subject: Re: Re: Vioxx and heart attacks

>Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 19:31:42 EDT

>

>I just saw an article on CBS that Vioxx is now known to cause heart

>attacks

>in patients with heart problems or taking large doses. Is this something

>we

>should be concern about????

>

>Donna Pinto

>December 9, 2003

>273\208

>5ft 9 1/2

>Little Rock

>Dr. Hargroder and Dr. Wilshire

>

>

>