Over-the-counter painkillers cause high blood pressure

If you have high blood pressure (hypertension), everyday painkillers such as ibuprofen could be to blame. These, and many other over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs, cause hypertension, yet doctors almost never make the connection. “Patients often assume that because a medication can be obtained without a prescription, it’s relatively harmless. But that’s not always the case,” says Prof Ehud Grossman of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Worse, [highlight]doctors seem to be equally as ignorant of the drugs’ dangers[/highlight].

Many drugs cause hypertension, says Prof Grossman. As well as [highlight]over-the-counter anti-inflammatories and painkillers, contraceptive pills, antibiotics and antidepressants all directly cause blood pressure to rise[/highlight]. The usual result is more drugs, a prescription for an antihypertensive.

Source: American Journal of Medicine, 2012 Jan;125(1):14-22. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2011.05.024