Digital Desk: Researchers discovered that taking paracetamol on a daily basis raises the blood pressure level and increases the risk of heart attacks. The researchers cautioned doctors against administering paracetamol to those who are at risk of a heart attack.
The study involved 110 patients with a history of high blood pressure who were given one gram of paracetamol four times a day or a placebo after two weeks before switching the schedule, so the placebo group got paracetamol according to The Telegraph UK.
The study said that blood pressure had dramatically increased within four days in the group given paracetamol, raising the risk of a heart attack or stroke by 20%.
Chair of the therapeutics and clinical pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh, Professor David Webb, said, “We were trying to persuade patients to stop taking blood pressure-raising medications like ibuprofen; we have always assumed that paracetamol was the safest option. However, it is not.”
“We would recommend that clinicians start with a low dose of paracetamol and increase the dose in stages, going no higher than needed to control pain. Given the substantial rises in blood pressure seen in some of our patients, there may be a benefit for clinicians to keep a closer eye on blood pressure in people with high blood pressure who newly start paracetamol for chronic pain,” he said.
According to the researchers, people who require paracetamol for chronic pain should take a different blood pressure medicine.
“Two weeks of treatment with paracetamol increases high blood pressure, and this is important because we know high blood pressure is a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes.” said Professor James Dear, personal chair of clinical pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh.
“High blood pressure is a common occurrence. One in every three persons has hypertension, which worsens with age, and we all know how frequent it is to use paracetamol. Because many hypertensive patients also use paracetamol, we believe the paracetamol impact could have a significant population effect.” he added.
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