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(Hypertension. 2002;40:601.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial Commentary

Nonnarcotic Analgesic Use and the Risk of Hypertension in US Women

From the Medical University of South Carolina, Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology, Charleston, SC.

Correspondence to Brent M. Egan, MD, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 96 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425. E-mail eganbm@musc.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 
"Nonnarcotic Analgesic Use and the Risk of Hypertension in US Women"¹ presents epidemiological observations that are intriguing and have potentially important public health and clinical implications. The high prevalence and incidence of hypertension in this comparatively healthy (nurses) cohort of middle-aged and older women 44 to 69 years of age was substantial. The prevalence of hypertension at baseline was 32%. The incidence of hypertension among the women who were normotensive in 1990 and followed an average of 7.4 years (381 078 person yr/51,630 persons) was an impressive 20.5% (51 630/10 579) or 2.8% annually. The relatively high incidence of hypertension occurred despite the fact that 50% of these women had a reported body mass index of 24 kg/m², whereas 60% of Americans in this age range have a body mass index >25 kg/m².

The high rate of analgesic use was also noteworthy. Eighty-five percent of women provided information on their use of 1 of 3 analgesics, including aspirin, acetaminophen, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Seventy percent of the sample reported using at least 1 of these 3 analgesics 1 or more days monthly. Self-reported use on a monthly basis was of similar magnitude for aspirin (44%), acetaminophen (43%), and NSAIDs (37%).

A striking and novel observation in this report is the positive and consistent association between the frequency of use for all 3 classes of analgesics and the relative risk of hypertension after controlling for multiple confounders in the multivariate model. The Table represents one clinician’s attempt to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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