CORRECTION APPENDED

You might want to think twice before reaching for that bottle of aspirin, a new Harvard Medical School study suggests.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found a correlation between an increased risk of hypertension in men and frequent use of over-the-counter painkillers, including such common brands as Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, and Aleve.

The study specifically looked at nonnarcotic analgesics, which are the most commonly used drugs in the U.S., according to the study which was published in the most recent edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

These results mirrored earlier findings that demonstrated a similar correlation in women who took the drugs, according to Gary C. Curhan, an associate professor of medicine who helped lead the study.

“I think that these are very important medications. They have a lot of beneficial uses, but what needs to be reconsidered is how freely people use them,” Curhan said.

The study results do not prove a causal relationship between taking these drugs and developing hypertension, but Curhan says the findings strongly suggest such a linkage.

“With this kind of observational study, you can’t talk about definite causation, and while it’s still possible that there’s a factor that we haven’t accounted for... its hard to argue that it’s another factor,” he said.

Hypertension is a risk factor for a number of different conditions, such as heart attack or stroke, according to Benedict J. DiRusso, the director of Pharmacy Services for University Health Services (UHS).

Curhan advised that students try combating pain by other means before resorting to over-the-counter medications.

“The best thing is to try changing the environment and other circumstances so you don’t have to take the medication,” he said.

The UHS pharmacy makes non-prescription drugs, such as the painkillers included in the study, “available to the entire Harvard community,” according to its Web site.

“If it’s cold and flu season, as it is right now, we’ll see a high use of all those drugs with the exception of aspirin,” DiRusso said.

DiRusso said UHS was not yet aware of the findings, but that if they turn out to be true, “then it would be our job as a pharmacist to be sure that we’re aware of it at the time of dispensing Tylenol and other blood pressure medication.”

The pharmacist at the CVS on Mass. Ave was unavailable to comment, but customer Jonathan A. Aguilar ’08, who was browsing the aisles for pain medication, was not fazed by news of the study.

“I get enough exercise and eat healthy. If a minor increase in risk will let me focus and get my work done, it’s alright by me,” he said while grabbing a bottle of ibuprofen off the shelf.

—Staff writer Clifford M. Marks can be reached at cmarks@fas.harvard.edu.

CORRECTION
The sub-headline of the March 1 story "Pain Relievers May Cause High Blood Pressure" incorrectly stated that a University Health Services pharmacist recommended that students try methods of pain relief other than pain relievers. In fact, a Harvard Medical School professor, Gary C. Curhan, made the recommendation; the pharmacist quoted in the story was not aware of the findings discussed in the article.