(Carrick Pharmacy News) Got diabetes? You may want to ask your doctor before taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
That’s because a recent study found that taking NSAIDs if you have diabetes may increase your risk of heart failure.
This study found that the risk of heart failure could increase by as much as 50 percent in those with diabetes who take NSAIDs — even if they only take them for a short time.
This possible effect of taking NSAIDs was particularly pronounced in those with diabetes who were older than 79 or who had elevated A1c levels. (A1c is a common marker used to test for diabetes and prediabetes.)
This link did not appear to be present in patients who were younger than 65 with normal levels of A1c, the authors of this study told Medscape.
NSAIDs are commonly prescribed to patients with diabetes, these researchers noted. And many, such as ibuprofen (Advil and Motrin), naproxen sodium (Aleve) and Aspirin, are available over the counter.
This study looked at more than 330,000 Danish patients who were enrolled in a national registry. More than 23,000 of those patients were hospitalized for heart failure between 1998 and 2018.
Of those, 16 percent said they had received a prescription for an NSAID within the two years before they were hospitalized. And 3 percent said they had received three or more NSAID prescriptions during that time.
NSAIDs can serve an important purpose, and you should always take your medications as prescribed and advised by your doctor. Still, if you are concerned about your risk for heart failure, discuss NSAID use and other potential risk factors with your healthcare provider.
This research was set to be presented at a conference. Research presented at conferences has sometimes not been peer-reviewed.
Information about funding sources and potential conflicts of interest was not available at the time of publication.
