British scientists last week they had found no evidence that prescription painkillers such as Celebrex, Vioxx and Bextra protected against stomach bleeding any better than older drugs.
Julia Hippisley-Cox had found no proof that these painkillers, known as COX-2 inhibitors, were less likely to cause gastrointestinal bleeding than aspirin or other treatments called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS).
In the four-year observational study, Hippisley-Cox and her team studied more than 9,000 patients in Britain who had been diagnosed with a stomach ulcer or bleeding and compared each case with up to 10 control patients.
Forty-five percent of the patients with a stomach ailment had been prescribed an NSAIDS in the previous three years and 10 percent had taken a COX-2 inhibitor. This compared with 33 percent and 6 percent in the control group.
The researchers said the risk of a stomach problem associated with using NSAIDS was lower in patients who were also taking drugs to heal ulcers.
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(from varioud sources including yahoo, brit pages).
