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harrybarracuda

It amazes me how this simple drug keeps proving to be so useful.

Its cardiovascular benefits are well documented, but now this (although there is a caveat at the end):

aging one

good news Harry, I have been taking one a day for almost 5 years now. But for the heart and circulation as you pointed out.

harrybarracuda

Yep, I take an Aspirine C in a glass of water every night (if I'm not too pissed to remember).

grumbles1

I've heard of it for a healthy heart, but this is a new one. Hope it works

DrAndy

taking an aspirin a day without proper medical advice can be a bad thing

Koojo

Also I believe it destroys your liver if you have alcohol in your blood while taking it.

harrybarracuda

Oops wrong thread.


Yes, taking it without medical advice is risky. My doctor recommends it.

21 March 2012 Last updated at 00:32 Daily aspirin: Risks and benefits

By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News

Daily aspirin is recommended for high risk heart patients

Taking a small daily dose of aspirin has been linked to a reduced risk of cancer. But experts say it is still too early to start recommending it to patients. So what are the risks and benefits of taking this drug?
What is aspirin?
Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) has been used for many years as a painkiller. It has an anti-inflammatory action, and is used to relieve headache, menstrual pain and muscle aches. More recently it has been given to patients with known cardiovascular disease risk factors to reduce their chance of stroke and heart attack.
How does it work?
It works by helping to prevent blood clots forming in the blood vessels, by stopping cells in the blood known as platelets from sticking together and clogging an artery.
Why low-dose aspirin?
UK experts recommend 75mg for heart disease prevention. This is a lot less than the dose for pain relief. This is because taking aspirin every day raises the risk of side effects like internal bleeds.
What are the risks?
Low-dose aspirin treatment is linked with a very small increase in the risk major bleeding in the stomach and brain. Studies suggest that 769 people would needed to be treated with low-dose aspirin for one extra person to be harmed with major bleeding.
What do we know about taking aspirin to prevent cancer?
A number of studies have suggested aspirin may protect against cancer. Latest work in The Lancet that looks at 51 studies involving over 77,000 participants suggests aspirin not only reduces a person's risk of developing cancer but could also help stop cancers spreading around the body. Cancer death rates were also significantly lower among people taking aspirin.
Who should take it daily?
Experts say there is still not enough evidence to recommend that fit and healthy people take aspirin as a precaution against cancer. Similarly, healthy people are not advised to take it to prevent heart disease because the risks of dangerous side effects, although small, outweigh the benefits.
Low-dose daily aspirin is only recommended for those considered to be at risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
But experts say it is worth exploring whether some cancer patients, such as those with bowel cancer, might benefit from daily aspirin.
Anyone considering taking aspirin is advised to talk to their doctor first.

Koojo

oops.

harrybarracuda

Daily Aspirin - More Benefit Than Risk?


Article Date: 25 Mar 2012 - 0:00 PDT

Many people take a low dose of aspirin every day to lower their risk of a further heart attack or stroke, or if they have a high risk of either. While the anticipated benefit is a lower chance of vascular disease, taking daily aspirin is not without danger: for instance it raises the risk of internal bleeding. Hence the important need to discuss beforehand with the doctor, "In my case, doc, should I be taking daily aspirin?"

But this week, the publication of three studies in The Lancet, has added a new benefit to the equation: cancer prevention, and stirred up the pros and cons debate.

In those studies, Professor Peter Rothwell of Oxford University in the UK, a world expert on aspirin, and colleagues, confirm that for people in middle age, a daily dose of aspirin can cut the risk of developing several cancers, with effects starting after only two to three years rather than the ten or so previously thought.

Moreover, they propose that treatment with daily aspirin may also prevent an existing, localized cancer from spreading to other parts of the body, which Rothwell says is just as important to know about, since that's when cancer becomes deadly.

If you follow their reasoning, we appear to have reached a crucial point in the debate: on the one hand we have the benefit that aspirin can reduce cancer, stroke and heart attacks, which are much more likely to lead to disability or death, and on the other, we have the risk of internal bleeding, which is less harmful than those diseases.


Such arguments cause more people, even those presently enjoying good health, to ask the question: "Should I be taking aspirin every day?"

But, although Rothwell and colleagues present compelling evidence, despite some limitations, their papers do not necessarily furnish a clear answer to that question.

Nevertheless, the balance of the pros and cons may alter in the light of their evidence, because not only does low dose aspirin therapy appear to increase the pros, it may also reduce the cons, in that the researchers found the risk of internal bleeding reduced with time.

Plus, the new studies also raise a thorny public health question, similar to that surrounding cholesterol-busters, should health authorities consider recommending routine use of aspirin for cancer prevention?

This was the subject of a commentary published in the same issue of the The Lancet. Here, Andrew T Chan and Nancy R Cook of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, suggest that on balance, we are not ready to recommend aspirin for cancer prevention.

One reason is that the Rothwell studies did not include data from the largest randomized trials in primary prevention, the Women's Health Study (WHS), and the Physicians' Health Study (PHS), where subjects took aspirin every other day.

"Also, despite a convincing case that the vascular and anticancer benefits of aspirin outweigh the harms of major extracranial bleeding, these analyses do not account for less serious adverse effects on quality of life, such as less severe bleeding," they add.

However, Chan and Cook acknowledge that as we await results of additional trials, and the longer term follow up of the WHS and PHS, the Rothwell studies do move us a "step closer to broadening recommendations for aspirin use".

At the very least, it means future evidence-based guidelines cannot ignore the use of aspirin for prevention of vascular disease in isolation from cancer prevention, they conclude.

Other authorities have also been quick to respond to the new studies. In the UK, the NHS's answer to the question "Should I start taking aspirin?" is:

"Overall, aspirin is a highly effective medical treatment when used appropriately, but it is not yet a drug that should be taken unsupervised on a daily basis, even at low doses."

They, like Chan and Cook, say that while the Rothwell studies "provide compelling evidence, taking aspirin is not yet recommended to prevent cancer and people should not start taking it daily as a precautionary measure."

For healthy people considering taking daily aspirin, they have this message:

"Given that the potential risks could outweigh any benefits, it is not currently advised that healthy people with no risk factors for cardiovascular disease take aspirin to prevent possible cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke."

They also say the evidence for taking aspirin purely to prevent cancer or to treat it is "even less substantial than for blood thinning", and urge "we cannot be sure that the potential benefits are not outweighed by the known risks".

The reason aspirin is prescribed in a small daily dose as a means to lower the risk of heart attack or stroke, is because of the effect it has on the clotting action of platelets in the bloodstream.

When we bleed, platelets in the blood build up at the site of the wound, forming a plug that stops further blood loss.

But this clotting can also happen inside blood vessels, such as when a fatty deposit in a narrow artery bursts. At the site of the burst, blood platelets clump into a clot that can block the artery and stop blood flow to the brain or heart, resulting in a stroke or heart attack.

Aspirin reduces the ability of the platelets to clump, thereby lowering the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.


In the UK, for example, aspirin is prescribed as a blood-thinner to reduce the risk of clots. The treatment comprises a small daily dose, often around 75mg (a typical aspirin painkilling tablet has about 300mg of aspirin).

But the downside to this anti-clotting benefit, is that aspirin can also cause serious harm, the best known of these being the small but important increased risk of stomach irritation and bleeding.

And, ironically, while daily aspirin can help prevent a clot-related (ischemic) stroke, it may actually increase the risk of a bleeding (hemorrhagic) stroke.

Although aspirin's risk-reduction benefits are different between men and women (and among women, it also depends on age), the risk of bleeding with daily aspirin is about the same in both sexes.

The risk of bleeding also tends to be higher in older people, those with a history of stomach ulcers, and people already taking medication or who have conditions that increase the risk of bleeding.

Daily aspirin use also increases the risk of developing a stomach ulcer. And, for anyone with a bleeding ulcer, taking aspirin will cause it to bleed more, perhaps to a life-threatening extent, say experts at the Mayo Clinic in the US.

People with asthma can also experience breathing problems with aspirin.

Other side effects of taking aspirin include nausea and indigestion, ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and hearing loss. And some people can have an allergic reaction. Aspirin recommendations

Before you take aspirin, even as a pain reliever, experts generally recommend that you talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you are pregnant, trying to conceive or are breastfeeding.

The same goes for people with a blood disorder, a stomach ulcer, who suffer from asthma, have high blood pressure, kidney or liver problems, or have allergic reactions to any drugs.

It is also important to tell your doctor what other medications or supplements you are taking. Even if you take aspirin with ibuprofen, it reduces the benefits of the aspirin. And taking aspirin with other anti-clotting agents, such as warfarin, could also greatly increase your risk of bleeding.

If you are on daily aspirin and need surgery or dental work, it is important you tell your surgeon or dentist what dose you are on, so they can minimize the risk of excessive bleeding during the procedure.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also warns those who take aspirin regularly to limit their alcohol intake, because that can have an additional blood-thinning effect, and raises the risk of upset stomach.

The Mayo Clinic suggest if you are on daily aspirin, you should limit your alcohol consumption to one drink or less per day if you are a woman, or two drink or less if you are a man.

Another point they make, is that stopping daily aspirin therapy may be unsafe: there is a rebound effect that can trigger a blood clot and cause a heart attack or stroke. It is important to talk with your doctor first before you make any changes or stop your daily dose.

Aspirin should not be given to children under 16 because of the risk of triggering a rare but dangerous condition known as Reyes syndrome, which is why in the UK it has been removed as an ingredient from all child and baby medicines.

Many experts would also advise those thinking about taking daily aspirin as a way to cut cancer risk, to consider there are many other, less harmful lifestyle changes that can also make a difference: such as giving up smoking, following a healthy diet, limiting alcohol intake, keeping to a normal weight, and taking regular exercise.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

harrybarracuda

Not for everyone, for me Koojo.

That's what's called "medical advice".

Humbert

Very informative. Aspirin is truly a wonder drug. I took daily for a blood clot in my leg after surgery and it worked wonders.
Do not neglect to have colonoscopy done every ten years after age 50.

natalie8

Good thread, harry, but do you know about white willow bark which is the natural form of aspirin? The creators of aspirin copied the beneficial traits of white willow bark because you can patent a drug, blah blah blah.

From memory, I believe you need to take white willow bark over a period of time to benefit from it. Let me see if I can find a short but sweet article on it.

harrybarracuda

I think I might have had some in one of those Thai home made tonics which include Thai whisky, but I can't really remember it was that good.

natalie8

Apologies for our useless internet.

ThaiAm

I use baby aspirin daily, taking 1 60 grain baby aspirin before going to bed. This was approved by my doctor even though I am also on Coumadin blood thinner. I have been taking a daily aspirin for many years, probably about 30 and not had any of the stomach related issues come up.

Not sure how this will effect me in my old age but so far at 78 have not had any issues with heart problems.

DrAndy

so you are at high risk of heart attack, harry?

stay calm, don't get upset

harrybarracuda

^ Oh fuck me, so you're a Doctor now, are you?

Er, hang on.....

DrAndy

^ that has made me feel guilty at winding you up

making your blood pressure rise.....

never mind

harrybarracuda

Actually it's more the risk of stroke. My doctor said to me "You're going to have to stop masturbating". I said "Why?". She said "Because you're upsetting everyone else in the waiting room".


Rat-a-tat-*ching*

Rural Surin

Yes, quality life through accumulated pharmaceuticals.

Nothing up their sleeves...

Boon Mee

I'm taking a couple of aspirin a day with this hot weather ongoing. Have to be careful tho not to get the blood too thin and bleed out if cut. I love April in Thailand!

Koojo

mmmm pharmaceuticals.

I used to be quite a fan back in the day.

manpet

Humbert good advise there ,every 5yrs would be better though , look for the signs & act quickly , its something a lot of us guys dont consider enough ,

Borey the Bald

The problem with aspirin is that it is a cheap generic drug. Very inexpensive with a low profit margin. If it was still under patent to a pharma company, they would be charging dearly for it and every doctor on the planet would be prescribing it to almost everyone and getting a cut of the action.

DrAndy

Is that what your doc suggested you do, two a day when it is hot?