That’s the advice from Garret A. FitzGerald, MD, lead researcher of a study published December 20, 2001, in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. FitzGerald’s study examines the effects of mixing these two therapies. The results suggest that ibuprofen wipes out the blood-thinning heart benefits of daily aspirin therapy.
The study is important to arthritis patients for several reasons. Both drugs – ibuprofen and aspirin – are available over the counter, meaning arthritis patients may be using them without their doctors’ knowledge.
- In recent years, many Americans have begun to take a daily aspirin tablet because of aspirin’s widely publicized potential to reduce heart attacks by thinning the blood.
- Ibuprofen is one of the most widely used drugs to treat arthritis pain.
Ibuprofen is in a class of medicines called NSAIDs, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These drugs are designed to help control inflammation in arthritis patients. One question many arthritis patients may have is, “What about other arthritis medicines combined with aspirin? Do they undermine or counteract aspirin the way ibuprofen apparently does?”
The short answer is that researchers aren’t sure yet. “We have no direct evidence with which to answer this question yet,” Dr. FitzGerald said. Research shows mixed results. However, among the drugs that don’t counteract the heart benefit of aspirin is Tylenol® the study reports.
In the study, when a single dose of ibuprofen was taken beforehand, aspirin lost 98 percent of its blood-thinning power. Even when aspirin was taken first, ibuprofen wiped out 90 percent of aspirin's benefit. The researchers believe that ibuprofen clogs a channel inside a clotting enzyme, blocking aspirin from reaching its own active site inside the enzyme.
Dr. FitzGerald suggests asking your physician whether your pain medication “is likely to undermine the effectiveness or enhance the side effects that I experience with aspirin?” It’s a matter of weighing important health benefits and risks.
“Their doctor is in the best position to judge the answer best suited to the individual,” Fitzgerald said.
