NSAIDs, which stand for Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs, are found to have disastrous affects on cardio vascular health. The research has studied various drugs and their effects in heart health. It has been found that while the drug that caused maximum risk is diclofenac, drugs such as small doses of ibuprofen and naproxen do not cause much harm. Etoricoxib is another drug that has been found to elevate the risks of heart attacks. Indomethacin, a very common pain reliever, also increases risk of heart attacks with prolonged use. Most of these drugs, which are used to relieve pain in the body, are available off the shelves without the need of prescription. Prolonged use of these drugs can cause major heart diseases.The research was carried out by researchers David Henry and Patricia McGettigan from the Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto and Hull York Medical School in Hull, UK respectively. The authors said that the study provided conclusive proof about the fact that pain killer do increase the risk of heart attacks. Huge amounts of data were reviewed to come to the results. The risk of heart attacks varies with the strength of dosage.

This study has brought to light the need to regulate the dosage of these pain killers. Almost every person uses pain killers for relief from aches in different parts of the body. Further, the study also throws light on another important aspect: the procedures of clinical trials before releasing the drug in the market. These trials provide inadequate results about the harmful effects of a medicine. New ways to increase safety standards have to be devised. Some of the possible safety regulations are phased launch so that harmful effects can be evaluated in a better manner, various risk control and prevention strategies and survey of the market to note marked undesirable effects. These studies are necessary to evaluate the appropriateness of dangers involved.

Although challenging, these matters need to be addressed so that a larger percentage of population can be protected against potential risks, clinicians, regulators, investigators and patients should be aware of the potential risk factor. They should ask for stronger research, development and safety standards. Further, there is also a requirement for organizations and drug manufacturers to allocate more funds for clinical trials so that risk assessment can be done more effectively and efficiently. Drug safety is one of the major tasks for drug manufacturers.