Daily aspirin use debunked... It took long enough!

Aspirin, an over the counter medication used by millions (maybe billions) around the world for different reasons.  As chiropractors, we never promote the use of medication, we just inform people to read between the lines.  The human body has and never will be deficient in aspirin.  All peoples health problems have a cause.  The majority of medicine does not address the cause, it usually just hides the symptoms, making you think you are better.  The majority of your health is based off of you lifestyle, and your environment.  Most people would like to think that bad genes, bad germs, or bad luck are the cause of their ailments.  Research says that between 5 and 30% of your health and aging is genetics, the other 70-95% is based on YOUR LIFESTYLE.  If daily medication if part of your daily lifestyle, you should consider getting a health evaluation from a Chiropractor.  There's a great chance that they will be able to help you.

Dangerous for Daily Use

Article from the WCA

Ever since the 1988 research that suggested that some high risk patients who took daily aspirin had fewer heart attacks, drug companies that make and market aspirin have tried hard to convince people that “an aspirin a day keeps the heart attack away.”

While the researchers of the original study never recommended the once-a-day aspirin regimen, the pharmaceutical industry immediately began a massive press release campaign that distorted the research report. The press releases at the time gave the impression that the daily aspirin was a sure-fire way to prevent heart attacks. The news was picked up by most newspapers and even medical doctors began “prescribing” aspirin as a preventive measure.

Thanks in part to this deceptive marketing campaign, Americans take more than 25 million aspirin tablets every day, despite the fact that:

* 1,600 children die each year from allergic reactions to aspirin;

* patients with blockage of arteries to the brain are three times more likely to have a stroke if they are taking aspirin;

* dyspepsia and gastrointestinal hemorrhage occur in 31% of those taking 300 mgs. of aspirin per day;

* even low doses of aspirin can increase the risk of brain hemorrhage; and

* other side effects can include anemia, bleeding ulcers, confusion and dizziness, and numerous other problems.

A new study confirms the risk of aspirin and says that the supposed “benefits” don’t apply to most people. In fact, according to the authors, people without a history of cardiovascular disease (such as heart attack or stroke) are unlikely to benefit from a regular dose of aspirin, given the associated risk of internal bleeding.

The research, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, January 9, 2012, is the largest study to date on the effects of aspirin in people without established cardiovascular conditions.

Researchers from Professor Kausik Ray’s group at St George’s, University of London investigated the drug’s effectiveness in primary prevention and the prevalence of side effects. They also assessed whether aspirin had any impact on the risk of death from cancer among people considered at risk of cardiovascular disease.

They analyzed data from nine clinical trials involving more than 100,000 participants without a history of cardiovascular disease. Half of the participants took aspirin and half took a placebo. The average participant in the aspirin arm of these trials took aspirin for about six years.

The researchers found that aspirin in conventional daily or alternate day doses reduced the risk of total cardiovascular disease events by just 10% – and this was largely due to a reduction in non-fatal heart attacks. It did not result in a reduction in other cardiovascular disease events, including death from heart attack or fatal or non-fatal stroke.

The study also showed that this benefit was almost entirely offset by a 30% increase in risk of life-threatening or debilitating internal bleeding events. This means that while one cardiovascular disease event was averted for every 120 people treated with aspirin for about six years, one in 73 people suffered from potentially significant bleeding during the same period.

The lead author of the report, Dr. Rao Seshasai, said the evidence that aspirin may prevent future cardiovascular disease events in people with established heart attacks or strokes is indisputable.
“However, the benefits of aspirin in those individuals not known to have these conditions are far more modest than previously believed and, in fact, aspirin treatment may potentially result in considerable harm due to major bleeding.”

By concurrently investigating the effects that aspirin had on death from cancer in the same population, the researchers found that, contrary to some recent reports, aspirin did not reduce the risk of death from all cancers.

Dr. Seshasai added: “There is an enormous interest in understanding the role of aspirin in cancer prevention. No evidence of benefit was found in the studies reviewed, but more research is needed given these were only of six years in duration.”