The risk of dying from or having another heart attack is high among people who have survived a first heart attack and are taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), new research in the journal Circulation says.

In fact, researchers at Gentofte University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, note that even short-term treatment with the painkillers including COX-2 drugs puts heart attack patients at significant risk.

The research adds to the mounting evidence suggesting COX-2 drugs — specifically, and possibly all additional NSAIDs, including aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen — can have a detrimental effect on heart attack patients, experts said.