February 7, 2022

Regular, long-term paracetamol and blood pressure in people with high blood pressure; study

Some people with medical conditions are prescribed long-term paracetamol, usually for chronic pain.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have done a study being published in the journal Circulation looking at regular, long-term paracetamol use in a group of patients with a history of high blood pressure, to investigate whether there were any associations with blood pressure.

This is a randomised clinical trial in 110 patients with a history of high blood pressure, in a crossover design so each participant had either paracetamol then placebo or vice versa.

Journalists dialled in to this press briefing to ask questions and to hear the scientists who ran the trial discuss what happened to the patients’ blood pressure when they were taking regular, long-term paracetamol compared to when they were taking placebo.

Speakers included:

Prof David Webb, Chair of Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Edinburgh

Prof James Dear, Personal Chair of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Edinburgh

Dr Iain MacIntyre, Consultant in Clinical Pharmacology and Nephrology, NHS Lothian

This Briefing was accompanied by an SMC Roundup of comments.