By themselves, low-dose aspirin and the painkiller Vioxx are usually safe for the stomach, but together they can spell trouble, a new study indicates. The findings may be relevant to many people who take aspirin to prevent heart problems as well as a COX-2 inhibitor drug like Vioxx for arthritis. The study, in the medical journal Gastroenterology, found that when patients who routinely take low-dose aspirin are also treated with Vioxx, the incidence of stomach ulcers increases to a rate comparable to that seen with ibuprofen, a traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Compared to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, COX-2 selective inhibitors have a significantly lower risk of gastrointestinal side effects, according to a multicenter team led by Dr. Loren Laine of the University of Southern California School of Medicine in Los Angeles.
