Common Arthritis pain killer linked to heart valve inflammation
Scientists have a new observation regarding arthritis painkillers. This drug is termed as celecoxib and the name of the brand is Celebrex. This drug belongs to the category of Non- steroidal and Anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) medicines. These are also COX- 2 inhibitors. The scientists of Vanderbilt University, Nashville went through thousands of electronic medical records for this analysis. The researchers found a link between consumption of celecoxib and aortic stenosis disease.
Aortic stenosis is a health issue in which the aortic valve gets narrowed. The valve is located in the heart and thus narrowing of the valve reduces the flow of blood in it; it is right between aorta and left ventricle of the heart. The disease is caused by scarring and calcification (buildup of calcium in the body during old age). In several laboratory tests, the scientists have found that increase in consumption of celecoxib increases the calcification of the cells. The findings have been published in JACC: Basic to Translational Science. This study contradicts a previous one, which was published in 2016. According to this NEJM research paper, celecoxib was not riskier than the existing NSAIDs (naproxen and ibuprofen).
The authors of the present study informed that in the previous research the scientists focused more on acute, thrombotic and short term events. The scientists also informed in this study of 2016, focus was not given to the results linked to valve diseases. As the research was short term and diseases related to valves take time to develop, the outcomes were not captured in the previous study.
In the present study, the scientists have decided to develop a long term plan to identify the results of having celecoxib. This has been informed by the 1st author of Meghan A. Bowler. She is working on the project from the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
