If you have heart disease
Low-dose aspirin can help you prevent a heart attack, but other painkillers such as ibuprofen have been associated with an increase in the chance for a heart attack or stroke. A 2017 British Medical Journal study reported a 20 to 50 percent elevated risk of a heart attack among people who used NSAIDs daily for a week or more. The increased risk associated with ibuprofen could be as high as 75 percent.
Those with heart disease or at risk for heart disease should be especially mindful of these findings, though the elevated risk affects everyone, says Catherine Sherwin, PhD, chair of the clinical pharmacology track at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Science PharmSci 360 Meeting.
