Painkiller use linked to irregular heartbeat

ConclusionThis prospective cohort study claims an association between NSAIDs usage and developing atrial fibrillation. However, there are many limitations to this research.Despite this being a large prospective cohort study that followed people over a period of time, the assessments within it were predominantly cross-sectional. That means it assessed the person’s current or recent prescription of NSAIDs at the time they were diagnosed, but this cannot prove that using NSAIDs caused atrial fibrillation. A better method may have been to assess the use of NSAIDs in people without atrial fibrillation at the start of the study, then follow them up over time to see if they developed atrial fibrillation, which would have better separated exposure and outcome. There is the potential for causes other than the cardiovascular risk factors measured to have influenced the results. For example, the reason for taking NSAIDs was not known, but there could have been other risk factors for developing atrial fibrillation, such as: recent surgery, which would often lead to short-term NSAIDs usage the need to take high-dose steroids – this includes people with inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, who would also be more likely to take NSAIDs Participants’ NSAID usage was also not accurately recorded. It was determined purely by prescription usage and then assumed that the medication was taken as prescribed. It is well known that people often deviate from this, and this...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication Older people Source Type: news