Some of the widely used painkillers could increase long-term user’s risk of heart attack by more than a third, according to an in-depth study of the side effects these drugs have shown.

“One year’s high-dose treatment with over-the-counter painkillers such as ibuprofen and diclofenac, used by hundreds of thousands of arthritis sufferers in the UK, leads to three avoidable heart-attacks and one fatal heart-attack for every 1,000 users”, researchers said. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs have also been associated to cause gastrointestinal conditions like stomach ulcers.

A newer generation of NSAID known as coxibs has been introduced and they carry lesser risk of causing stomach pains, but they are widely associated to an increase in heart attacks. This led to widespread concern of the public.