Scientists believe pioneering research has taken them a step closer to producing painkillers which no longer carry the risk of current deadly side-effects, including increased blood pressure and heart disease.
In what could prove a major boon to the health of millions in the UK who regularly take the likes of ibuprofen, researchers believe a new method of drug development lowers the dangers of both heart attacks and strokes.
For more than a decade, medics have been trying to modify pain relieving drugs so that they no longer carry such deadly side effects as heart disease or the hardening of arteries.
It has long been established that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) block a specific enzyme called COX-2. While this is successful in reducing pain and inflammation, it also has the knock on effect of increasing the risk of heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, and even sudden cardiac death.
However, a team of American scientists from the University of Pennsylvania has now discovered that deleting a different enzyme, called mPEGS-1, slows the rate at which arteries harden.
The study's senior author Dr Garret FitzGerald, director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, said that tests in mice had shown that deleting the COX-2 enzyme raised blood pressure, leading to blood clotting and the hardening of arteries.
However, deleting a separate enzyme, mPGES-1 "avoided these effects", while still maintaining the pain-relieving effects.
Dr Garret FitzGerald told the Daily Express: "NSAIDs relieve pain and inflammation but increase the risk of cardiovascular disease - roughly to the same degree as in smokers or patients with diabetes. The risks of NSAIDs have prompted an increased use of opiates for pain relief and they have their own set of problems."
Our work raises the possibility of a safer and effective alternative
He added: "Our work raises the possibility of a safer and effective alternative. Several companies are developing drugs that block mPGES-1 and here we suggest that this approach might be further refined by targeting these drugs exclusively to the macrophage cells in the immune system). The real attraction is that such drugs may work just as well as NSAIDs, avoid problems with addiction and potentially have use in treating some forms of cardiovascular disease as opposed to predisposing to cardiovascular risks".
While at an early stage of research, it is hoped the breakthrough could eventually lead to the development of painkillers which no longer carry the increased risk of heart-attack and stroke.
Lihong Chen, a post-doctoral fellow working with Dr FitzGerald, added: "Taken together these studies add more evidence that targeting the enzyme mPEGS-1 could result in a new class of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that steer clear of heart-disease risk and even work to reduce it."
It is known that daily taking of painkillers, used by millions of people in the UK, can almost double the risk of an irregular heartbeat which triggers heart attacks and strokes.
Those taking the pills - including ibuprofen - are 76 per cent more likely to develop the "silent killer" condition atrial fibrillation.
In particular, doctors are worried at the number of young people who are taking painkillers daily.
Recent research found that one in three Britons aged between 18 and 24 now take over-the-counter pills once every 24 hours - often at the slightest hint of pain.
Many are resorting to pills within minutes of suffering minor headaches.
But medics warn that, ironically, many could also be giving themselves headaches by overusing tablets, creating a vicious cycle of painkiller abuse.
Atrial fibrillation, which some experts call the new epidemic in cardiovascular disease, increases the risk of heart failure three-fold and stroke five-fold.
In January, the British Heart Foundation said the number of patients diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation had risen by 20 per cent in five years to more than a million.
Professor Colin Baigent, deputy director of the Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit at Oxford University, said: "Atrial fibrillation is just one of several cardiac hazards associated with NSAIDs (painkillers), the most important of which is an increased risk of heart attacks.
"Although NSAIDs are very effective for the treatment of pain, it is important that both risks and benefits are considered carefully before they are prescribed."