Aleve Heart-Healthy Over Short-Term

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At the end of the seven days, each person waited at least six days before taking daily low-dose aspirin (81 milligrams) for another seven days, for comparison purposes.

The researchers then measured key blood and urine marker to detect signs of platelet inhibition.

They found that both doses of Aleve achieved an anti-platelet effect of 98 to 99 percent, similar to that achieved by the prescription form of the drug and low-dose aspirin.

"We know that the gastrointestinal side-effects of naproxen go down with a lower dosing," Schiff said. "So, this is good news for Aleve users who take a lower dose of the drug in its OTC form. They will get the same cardio-protective effects as with the prescription dose of the drug."

However, compared to the "gold-standard" of research -- a large, randomized clinical trial -- this study is rather small. "This was a laboratory study with small numbers relative to a large clinical trial," Schiff said. "But the blood-urine marker we used provided enough 'power' to the study to let us come to the conclusions we have reached. Further formal clinical studies will be needed to fully establish the cardio-protective implications of this study."

"The main point of the study is that OTC naproxen has similar anti-platelet effects as prescription-strength naproxen," added Dr. Arthur Kavanaugh, a rheumatology expert at the University of California, San Diego. He was not involved in the study.

"This is not surprising, but it is important because patients often think that OTC medications are less effective than their prescription counterparts," Kavanaugh said. "This study suggests that this is not the case for naproxen."

Prescription-strength naproxen has been available for over 30 years in the United States. The lower-strength version of the drug has been available without prescription since 1994.

More information

Find out more about NSAIDs at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (www.nlm.nih.gov ).