Yes, some do, at least in women.
In a study published last year in Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association, researchers from the Nurses’ Health Study looked at the records of more than 5,000 female nurses ages 34 to 77.
They found that those who took 500 milligrams or more a day of acetaminophen — such as Tylenol — were twice as likely to develop high blood pressure as those who didn’t. Women who took 400 milligrams a day or more of ibuprofen — often marketed as Motrin or Advil — were 60 to 80 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure than those who didn’t. Aspirin, on the other hand, was not linked with increased risk.
For men, the link between over-the-counter painkillers and hypertension is less clear. A report from the Physicians’ Health Study involving more than 8,200 male physicians was also published last year, in the Archives of Internal Medicine. It found no link between the onset of hypertension and the painkillers.
Overall, one in three adult Americans has high blood pressure, the heart association says, and many don’t know it, said Dr. Gary C. Curhan, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and a co-author of the nurses’ study.
It’s not clear why the painkillers would be linked with higher blood pressure, Curhan said, but one theory is that the drugs may interfere with the kidney’s excretion of sodium, elevating blood pressure. The drugs may also hamper the ability of blood vessel walls to relax, raising resistance to blood flow and increasing blood pressure.
So, if you take over-the-counter painkillers, said Dr. Richard Lange, chief of clinical cardiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital, take the minimum needed to control pain — and get your blood pressure checked regularly.