article_snippet: Daily paracetamol could raise the risk of heart attacks, stroke and early death, a major study has warned .
article_snippet: Daily paracetamol could raise the risk of heart attacks, stroke and early death, a major study warns today.
article_snippet: Paracetamol is considered by doctors to be safer than aspirin, which can cause stomach bleeds, and ibuprofen, which has been linked to heart attacks and strokes.
article_snippet: British researchers who looked at studies involving 666,000 patients think paracetamol may be causing illness by preventing the action of an enzyme in the body called COX-2.
article_snippet: Scientists from the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine looked at eight studies that contained information on patients taking paracetamol daily for up to 14 years, for conditions such as arthritis and severe back pain.
article_snippet: Philip Conaghan, who led the research, pointed out that for most patients the risks were very small and those given paracetamol over a long period would have illnesses likely to kill those given paracetamol over a long period early.
article_snippet: ‘I am a bit worried that paracetamol at high dose for long periods could be associated with side effects that we hadn’t previously associated.
article_snippet: Given the study high usage and availability, a systematic review of paracetamol’s efficacy and tolerability in individual conditions is warranted.
article_snippet: Professor Conaghan said it was not possible from the studies to work out how the average person’s lifetime risk of a heart attack or stroke would increase if the average person’s took paracetamol for a long period.
article_snippet: Paracetamol remains the safest analgesic available, and the study should not stop people taking the study.
article_snippet: ’ Paracetamol is the most commonly used painkiller in the UK and
article_snippet: Although the NHS does not keep figures, evidence from Canada suggests that 5 per cent of the population are given at least one high dose prescription of paracetamol over the course of a year.