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Ibuprofen may erase aspirin’s benefit for stroke patients

A daily aspirin is often recommended to lessen the risk of a second stroke because it prevents platelets from clumping together. But that benefit may disappear for those who also take ibuprofen or similar drugs, a small study found.

The researchers identified 28 stroke patients who were taking both kinds of medication. None showed evidence that the aspirin prevented their platelets from clumping.

Eighteen of those patients agreed to stop ibuprofen or a similar drug called naproxen while continuing to take the aspirin. Two to four weeks later, the aspirin was able to do its business: Platelet clumping was significantly reduced in all 18 patients.

The study, by researchers at the University at Buffalo, N.Y., and Dent Neurologic Institute, was published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and is available at http://jcp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/48/1/117.