IS DAILY ASPIRIN HARMFUL OR HELPFUL

Does an aspirin a day, keep the doctor away?  Millions of people today are taking aspirin for primary prevention of heart disease. Half of men over 50, take daily low-dose aspirin.  Can  doctors tell those who are healthy, to stop?
As a medical physician for over 51 years, I strive to give you the best medical information on controversial medical subjects, and help your read betwwen the lines. You must come to your own conclusions. I have no ties to any organization, pharmaceutical, or lobby group. As an practicing medical acupuncturist since 1982, I find western medicine and medical acupuncture are very complimentary. This results in astounding healing in pain management, addictions to cigarettes and food, and a host of other maladies. Visit drneedles is blogging" at the end of each blog for a complete alphabetical list of all my blogs.
Visit http://www.americanacupuncture.com/ for more detailed information on mind, body, and spirit healing.

IS  DAILY ASPIRIN   HARMFUL OR  HELPFUL 

Does an aspirin a day, keep the doctor away?  Millions of people today are taking aspirin for primary prevention of heart disease. Half of men over 50, take daily low-dose aspirin.  Can  doctors tell those who are healthy, to stop?

REASONS YOU SHOULD TAKE DAILY ASPIRIN

Everyone agrees that aspirin reduces the risk of heart attacks in people who have severe chest pain, previous heart attacks, or heart abnormal rhythms.   If you have  peripheral vascular disease, or heart disease, or history of stroke, aspirin certainly is beneficial and can reduce your risk of further cardiovascular events. 

THE QUESTION IS,  SHOULD EVERYONE OVER 50 BE PUT ON ASPIRIN?

If you are healthy, is aspirin helpful?  A recent  clinical trial show that daily aspirin in asymptomatic people who do not have cardiovascular disease,  creates risks and side effects that outweigh the benefits of taking aspirin.  There were no cardiovascular reductions in rates yet serious side effects as bleeding.

If you believe you are totally healthy, with no history of CVD, aspirin is of  no benefit,  and the risks of bleeding are substantial.   There are now seven randomized controlled trials showing aspirin and doses of 100  milligrams or less is ineffective in cardiac prevention.   If you decrease the dose, it might be even less effective.

Studies also show there is also no benefit in taking aspirin if you have high blood pressure. If you are over 65, there are great risks of serious and even fatal hemorrhage.

WHY HEART ATTACKS OCCUR

You don’t get a heart attack because you don’t have aspirin in our blood.   Heart attacks occur because you lack proper nutrition and your lifestyle caused your blood to clot and inflame your bloodstream.   Over-the-counter painkillers such as aspirin and NSAID are the 15^th most common cause of death in the United States.

 Taking aspirin every day can be dangerous.  It  doubles your risk of ischemic strokes  and increases the chance of hemorrhagic strokes by 84 times.

EICOSANOIDS

 A group of 100 powerful hormones like substances control virtually all your physiological actions. These are called eicosnaoids.   Aspirin lowers both our good and bad eicosanoids

  The good eicosnaoids  widen your narrow blood vessels, lower your blood pressure, and lower your risk of heart disease.

 The bad eicosanoids, are increased with a  high carbohydrate diet.   This results in insulin resistance, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.   Any food or drug that increases your insulin levels will increases your bad eicosnaoid  levels.  To reduce the risks of heart disease, a low carbohydrate diet is essential.

DANGERS OF ASPIRIN

 Taking aspirin can be dangerous. People develop rashes and collapse into shock from taking aspirin. It causes bleeding during surgery, stomach ulcers, and increases the sensitivity of the blood thinner Coumadin.   It also increases the risk of major hemorrhagic strokes, but decreases the risk other types of strokes.

As you get older, you need as much oxygen as you can get. Cells depend on glycolysis for their energy.  Aspirin activates glycolysis and the respiration of mitochondria.  Aspirin shifts the mitochondrial action away from oxidation of fats to oxidation of glucose. This causes more carbon dioxide production.

 Since aspirin blocks new vessel formation, it protects against cancer.  Most people with cancer however, are given opiates instead of aspirin     Opiates increase the release of histamine, which suppresses immunity and stimulates cancers to grow. Hence, opiates actually  hasten  the death of the cancer patient.

 Aspirin has the same fact on mitochondria as thyroid, increasing energy production.   Aspirin also improves fertility,  since it suppresses prostaglandins and also improving the circulation of the uterus.   Even adding aspirin to bath water, may improve romantic feelings, since aspirin is also absorbed through the skin.

TAKING ASPIRIN WHEN IN HEART FAILURE QUESTIONED

 We know aspirin works when you are having a heart attack, but if you are in heart failure, it is another story.   One third of patients taking aspirin died, suffered a heart attack or had a stroke. Those who did not take aspirin or warfarin only had  a 27% death rate.    Those who took both warfarin and aspirin, spent 200 more days in the hospital for treatment, than those who just took warfarin.

Warfarin is better than no treatment and certainly better than aspirin in heart failure.  If your heart failure is due to lack of blood flow, as it is in two thirds of heart failures, most doctors will place you on aspirin.   Since warfarin is hard to monitor, doctors  rarely use it in heart failure.

Aspirin does not prevent clot formation if you have high blood cholesterol.   If your cholesterol is high, you are more likely to have clotting, and aspirin is also less likely to work. With high cholesterol, there are more leukocytes, macrophages, and platelets.   Your LDL becomes oxidized, and  the lining of your blood vessels is more likely to become injured..

 Strokes occur when there is a lack of oxygen to the brain; 80% of the time it is because an artery is blocked.  The remaining 20% are due to  ruptures  of  brain blood vessels. Aspirin interferes with the production of prothrombin, which is vital for blood clotting.

 Some people have many little ischemic strokes, and aspirin can lower that rate, but not if it is a hemorrhagic stroke. Aspirin permanently destroys the enzyme cyclo-oxygenase  that  is needed for your body to produce the chemical that signals and triggers pain ( Prostaglandins).  Hence, you will not get a warning  pain signal that your heart is being compromised.

USES OF ASPIRIN

 Aspirin is truly a wonder drug of the 20^th century. The bark of a willow tree, that contained salicylates, was used during the time of Hippocrates.

A German chemist, Heinrich Dresser, in 1899, found that a shrub of the rose family, Spirea, contained the chemicals that today make up aspirin.  An acetyl group was added to the irritating salicyates, and aspirin was born.

Today aspirin is made synthetically and can be very protective.  For 100 years, we were told that aspirin should be used when there is a fever, since a fever is dangerous. You must, however,  understand what aspirin is doing to your body.

 Aspirin is an antioxidant that protects against lipid peroxidation.  It has great anti-inflammatory effects by blocking the release of fatty acids from phospholipids  and triglycerides.   This is why aspirin works in heart attacks, but not in heart failure.   A third of patients who take aspirin die or suffer a heart attack or stroke.

 Aspirin blocks abnormal cell division and also reduces clotting.  It blocks the development of new blood vessels that help cancer grow.   

 We use aspirin to relieve fever, headaches, and inflammation. It  also helps to reduce the pain from rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and other muscular skeletal conditions.

Aspirin also reduces the risk of polyps in the colon. It opens blood vessels making them less prone to be blocked by any clot that may form. If you are high risk for stroke or heart attack, often a low dose aspirin may prevent this if you are a man, but for some unknown reason, not in women.

 SIDE EFFECTS OF ASPIRIN

 Aspirin causes  irritation of the stomach. In children who have chickenpox or flu, aspirin may develop an often-fatal disease called  Reye’s  syndrome.  Taking aspirin’s for a long time can also damage your liver and kidney.

 Many of us take aspirin hoping it will lower our risk of a heart attack, but new studies show if you are healthy, you should not take aspirin because the risks of bleeding outweigh the benefits.

 People with uncontrolled high blood pressure, liver disease, his kidney disease, alters, or are pregnant, should not take aspirin.

ASPIRIN ALTERNATIVES 

 Many people take various forms of aspirin such as Bayer, Excedrin, Advil, and BC powder  for short-term pain relief. Yet this aspirin deadens your nerves, leading to central nervous system diseases as Alzheimer’s, and stroke.

 Aspirin breaks down into a static acid, which destroys red blood cells, and  greatly thins the blood.   When your arteries are clogged, they should be cleansed to improve or enhance the blood flow.  Since aspirin thins the blood, there is even less blood flow and lack of oxygen flow to your  brain.

If you have developed a stomach ulcer, because of aspirin ingestion, try drinking cabbage juice or aloe vera juice.   If you suffer from headaches, you might want to take the herbs that aspirin originally came from, such as: Meadow Sweet, red or white willow bark, or wintergreen. 

  Remember that a headache occurs because of an acid condition. Alkaline substances can reverse, heal, and cure these problems. Herbs are alkaline substances.

 If you have red eyes, you may be developing liver toxicity, which shows in the white of your  eyes. Artichoke, gentian roots, and Barberry  can help cleanse your liver.    Activated charcoal also works.

ASPIRIN FOR PAIN RELIEF

Pain is a question that seeks an answer!   When you have pain, find out the cause of your pain, rather than just  trying to relieve the pain. Prevention is better than the remedy.  Pain has a purpose, since it lets you know something is wrong in your body.   Painkillers, as Celebrex,  nullify the anti-clotting action of aspirin.

COMMENTARY

 Rather than taking aspirin, consider controlling your risk factors .   Lower your blood pressure,  lose weight,  quit smoking, and get your cholesterol levels down to normal range.

Visit www.drneedles.com for more discussion of controversial medical subjects.

Sources:

Fowkes FGR, Price JF, Steward MCW, et al. Aspirin for prevention of cardiovascular events in a general population screened for a low ankle brachial index. A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2010; 303:841-848

JAMA March 3, 2010

US Preventive Services Task Force. Annals of Internal Medicine. Vol 136. (January 15) Pgs 157-172. 2002.

Lauer, MS. Aspirin for primary prevention of coronary events. The New England Journal of Medicine. Vol 346 (May 9) Pgs 468-1474. 2002.

Physicians' Health Study. NEJM 1989; 321:129-135