Scientists at the Medicines Monitoring Unit of Britain's Medical Research Council report in this week's issue of the medical journal
The Lancet that heart patients who take both aspirin and ibuprofen may increase their risk of death due to ibuprofen's tendency to block the blood-thinning abilities of aspirin.
As part of the study, researchers examined the medical records of 7,107 heart patients discharged from hospitals between 1989 and 1997 with aspirin prescriptions. Scientists discovered that patients in the study who used ibuprofen as well as aspirin were twice as likely to die by 1997 as those taking aspirin alone. For every 1,000 patients, 12 extra deaths a year were reported when ibuprofen was used in combination with aspirin. Scientists believe ibuprofen clogs a channel inside a clotting protein that aspirin uses to thin the blood.
While researchers say the study "raises a red flag" to the dangers of ibuprofen, they still believe their findings do not provide a "definitive answer on the question" of ibuprofen's effect on heart patients.