Researchers show a link between taking an effervescent drug and an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
Beware of substances that hide in medicines. To make drugs effervescent and thus facilitate their absorption by the body, a salt compound, sodium, is added. This is the case for paracetamol (Doliprane, Dafalgan, Efferalgan…). But a new study published in the journal National Library of Medicine heart risk alert.
As part of this research, Chinese scientists studied the effects of taking paracetamol on more than 300,000 people over the age of 60 for one year. They compared the results of 4,532 hypertensive patients who were taking paracetamol containing sodium with those of 146,866 hypertensive patients who were prescribed paracetamol without sodium. Verdict: the risk of cardiovascular disease was 5.6% greater in those who took an effervescent drug, compared to 4.6% in others.
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No more than 2 g of sodium per day
The scientists also compared the results of patients who did not have hypertension and took paracetamol with or without sodium. They too had a higher risk of heart disease (4.4% vs. 3.7%). “The actual risk only increased by regarding 1% compared to those taking sodium-free medications, but at the population level it is still significant,” said Professor Zeng, an author of the study.
“The effervescent and soluble formulations of 0.5 g tablets of paracetamol may contain 0.44 and 0.39 g of sodium respectively. If a person took the maximum daily dose of two 0.5 g tablets every six hours, it would consume 3.5 and 3.1 g of sodium respectively,” the scientists note. However, the World Health Organization recommends not to exceed a daily intake of 2 grams of sodium.
Another noteworthy observation: the longer the duration and the dose of the treatment, the higher the risk. An invitation not to abuse medication if you don’t need it.
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