Warning: Heart Attack Survivors - ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, Sports

Warning:  If you have already suffered a heart attack, beware of taking over the counter medication to relieve your pain.

New medical research shows heart attack survivors may face higher odds of death or subsequent heart attack, if they regularly take painkillers, known as, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs .

These include over-the-counter drugs such as ibuprofen like, Advil, Motrin and Naproxen or Aleve, as well as prescription drugs such as Celebrex.

Cardiologists at the University of Copenhagen advise long-term caution with use of NSAIDs in all patients after a heart attack.  They say, the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are harmful, even several years after a heart attack.

The findings appear in the latest issue of Circulation.