And High Blood Pressure Repeat Study Confirms Ce.earex Associated With Less Elevated Blood Pressure And Swelling (NAPS)}—The 18 million hypertensive seniors with arthritis will be interested in the results of a newstudy presented at the recent American Geriatric Saciety (AGS) annual meeting in Chicago on May 11, 2001. The six-week safety studyis the second to compare the differences in eardicrenal effects between the widely popular arthritis treatments, CELERREX (celecoxib capsules) and Vioxx, drugs known as Cox-2 specific inhibitors. The data from this newly released study confirm those of an earlier study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Therapeutics. The data demonstrate that blood pressure changes (specifically increases in systolic blood pressure) and leg and ankle swelling (edema) were significantly greater in elderly hypertensive patients receiving Vioxx 25 mg a day than those receiving CELEBREX 200 mg a day. These are the most coramonly preseribed doses of both products. There were no differences between patient groups in diastalie blood pressure. The study was sponsored by Pharraacia and Pfizer Inc, the co-marketers of CELEBREX. Significant increases in blood pressure occurred in approximately 15 percent of patients taking Vioxx versus 7 percent of those taking CreLeprex. Additionally, 8 percent of patients taking Vioxx experienced significant increases in swelling versus 5 percent of patients taking CELEBREX. “When you examine this large population of people, those witharthritis and high blood pressure, it becornes clear that physicians must consider the effects of a drug on all body systems and prescribe aecordingly,” said Williara White, MD, professor of medicine and chief, section of hypertension and clinical pharmacology at the University of Connecticut, School of Medicine. “This replicate study provides compelling evidence that in alder, hypertensive patients natall COXK-2 specific inhibitors act the same.” Arthritis and hypertension are the first and second most coramon offs chronic conditions affecting 50 and 40 percent of adults age 65 years aod older respectively. An estimated 43 million Americans— nearly one out of every six peo- ple—suffer from arthritis. Of those, approximately 18 million (42 percent) also have hypertension. Safety in the cardiovascular and renal systems is importantfor physicians to consider when choosing a therapy for their arthritis patients. CELEBREX is the only COX-2 specific inhibitor approved for osteoarthritis (OA) and adult rheumatoid arthritis (RA). CELEBREX should not be taken by patients who have aspirin-sensitive asthma or allergic reactions to aspirin or other arthritis medicines or certain sulfa drugs called sulfonamides, or who are in their third trimester of pregnancy. As with all NSAIDs, serious GI tract ulcerations can oceur without warning syraptormms. Physicians and patients should remain alert to the signs and symptoms of GI bleeding. CELEBREX does notaffect platelet function and therefore should not be used for cardiovascular prophylaxis. As with all NSAIDs, CeLEBREX should be used with caution in patients with fluid retention, hypertension, or heart failure. In clinical studies the most common side effects of CELEBREX were dyspepsia, diarrhea and abdominal pain, which were generally mild to moderate. For complete prescribing information on Celebrex, visit wuw.celebrex.com or call toll-free 888-735-3214.
