Aleve Heart-Healthy Over Short-Term

Drug curbs clotting to reduce cardiovascular risk, study finds.

By Bruce Sylvester
HealthDay Reporter
Monday, November 13, 2006; 12:00 AM

Copyright © 2006 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

MONDAY, Nov. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Short-term use of Aleve, the over-the-counter version of the prescription painkiller naproxen, appears safe and even healthy for users' cardiovascular systems, a new company-funded study suggests.

Aleve falls into the category of drugs known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which also includes analgesics such as aspirin, ibuprofen and cox-2 inhibitors such as Celebrex, Bextra and Vioxx. Bextra and Vioxx were pulled from the market after studies uncovered a significant rise in risk for cardiovascular events in people using cox-2s over the long term.

Use of Aleve -- at least over the short-term -- does not carry such risks, according to evidence from a small trial testing the drug's effects over a week of use. The trial was funded by Bayer, the maker of Aleve.

In fact, taking the medicine each day appears to reduce blood platelet activity in the same way that daily low-dose aspirin does, the study found. Accumulated platelets can build up in arteries, raising risks for heart attack or stroke.

"Patients come into my office and want something for pain," said lead investigator Dr. Michael Schiff, who treats patients at the Denver Arthritis Clinic and is also clinical professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "They want to know if the medicine I am going to give is going to have a cardiovascular risk."

"This data speaks to that issue," he continued. "Aleve will not be risky in that sense, and it could be cardio-protective."

The findings were presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, in Washington, D.C.

Ever since Vioxx and Bextra were withdrawn from the market, the question of the cardiovascular effects of other NSAIDs has come to the forefront.

In their study, Schiff's team enrolled 41 healthy adult men and women who were randomized to either Aleve twice-daily (220 milligram pill twice/day), Aleve three times daily, prescription naproxen twice-daily (total dose 1,100 milligrams/day), or a placebo.