@edgarblythe,
edgarblythe wrote:
Last week a very dear friend of mine was taken by ambulence to a hospital. She had suffered during one day with diahrea and vomiting. After friends had gotten her cleaned and comfortable, she told me she felt much better. But, she remained very weak. Some thought she was having a second stroke. With some people it may be hard to tell, particularly when the person is desperately seeking to avoid being taken to a hospital. At age 90, she confided to one friend, "I am afraid I will not come back." Turns out she had been taking an aspirin a day. If I have the facts correct, she had been advised to take aspirin. But, the aspirin had caused internal bleeding and my friend had lost half of her blood. A doctor said that a half aspirin would have been fine. Apparently, she had misunderstood the recommended dosage. Tonight she is in her room with a bleeding ulcer the doctors have not been able to stop. If anybody is considering taking aspirin this way I hope they will consult a doctor first.
Did she take the aspirin for 90 years ?
@OmSigDAVID,
Yep. She started with it dissolved in her formula, but later on ate them out of the box. By the time she entered grade school, she was eating them with a spoon.
I 'm not qualified to argue this, but I 'm qualified to mention it:
at least qua men of the male gender, it has been recommended
that we take an aspirin a day to ward off colon-rectal cancer
and to ward off prostate cancer. I also took aspirin as a blood thinner.
Good for headaches too
David
@OmSigDAVID,
I only voiced caution, since not everybody reacts to aspirin the same way; not everybody has need of it; etc. I also advised talking to a doctor first, not some forum poster like me.
from THe Wall Street Journal
By ANNA WILDE MATHEWS
If you're taking a daily aspirin for your heart, you may want to reconsider.
For years, many middle-aged people have taken the drug in hopes of reducing the chance of a heart attack or stroke. Americans bought more than 44 million packages of low-dose aspirin marketed for heart protection in the year ended September, up about 12% from 2005, according to research firm IMS Health.
Now, medical experts say some people who are taking aspirin on a regular basis should think about stopping. Public-health officials are scaling back official recommendations for the painkiller to target a narrower group of patients who are at risk of a heart attack or stroke. The concern is that aspirin's side effects, which can include bleeding ulcers, might outweigh the potential benefits when taken by many healthy or older people.
Aspirin Blocking Blood Clots: For Some, It Doesn't Work
"Not everybody needs to take aspirin," says Sidney Smith, a professor at the University of North Carolina who is chairing a new National Institutes of Health effort to compile treatment recommendations on cardiovascular-disease prevention. Physicians are beginning to tailor aspirin recommendations to "groups where the benefits are especially well established," he says.
Doctors generally agree that most patients who have already suffered a heart attack or ischemic stroke, the type caused by a clot or other obstruction blocking an artery to the brain, should take regular low-dose aspirin. But for people without heart disease, the newest guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force spell out much more clearly than before when aspirin should be administered.
Jon Protas/The Wall Street Journal
The guidelines, announced last year, suggest aspirin for certain men 45 to 79 years old with elevated heart-disease risk because of factors like cholesterol levels and smoking. For women, the guidelines don't focus on heart risk. Instead, the task force recommends certain women should take aspirin regularly if they are 55 to 79 and are in danger of having an ischemic stroke, for reasons that could include high blood pressure and diabetes.
The panel urged doctors to factor in conditions that could increase a patient's risk of bleeding from aspirin, which tends to rise with age. The group didn't designate a dose, but suggested that an appropriate amount might be 75 milligrams a day, which is close to the 81mg contained in low-dose, or "baby," aspirin. The task force didn't take a position on aspirin for people who are 80 and older because of a lack of data in this age group.
Aspirin Advice
Doctors have been scaling back their aspirin recommendations for people who don't already have heart disease. Here are the current guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
Aspirin recommended for:
Some men 45 and older with risk factors for heart disease, assuming no history of ulcers or other bleeding dangers.Some women 55 and older with risk factors for stroke, and no history of bleeding danger.Aspirin not recommended for:
Other medical researchers dispute the idea that there should be different guidelines for men and women. Still, many experts agree that doctors may have been recommending aspirin to people for whom the risks might outweigh the benefits.
Aspirin acts as a blood thinner, which is believed to account for much of its benefit of protecting against heart attacks and strokes. But that same action, along with a tendency to deplete the stomach's protective lining, can lead to a danger of gastrointestinal bleeding and possibly bleeding in the brain.
Edgar, we're on some weird mind-link. I just searched out this thread to ad the same link. Twice in one day...
@littlek,
I know of alternate health people been saying the same thing all along. There are still some who can benefit, but not as many as is generally thought.
@edgarblythe,
I'm a regular medicine person but I've long known (or think I have) how long one single aspirin has effects. I'd always be careful on it, and re the products that have aspirin in it - though I get it for some people, just like they are saying now. I don't fit the criteria for taking it, and I'm not. (I hope I'm guessing right.)
@ossobuco,
Maybe you are a candidate for an asprin a day. In this relatively high altitude, blood has a tendency to thicken to compensate for the lower partial pressure of oxygen. My doctor suggest donating blood for this reason.
@roger,
My chol is swell, my bp is very controlled. My cbc counts are fine..
I can't donate blood now in any case. If that is a problem for people who do have high cbc numbers, there are workarounds.
I do remember that about altitudes. Often helps athletes..
I guess I should add my general practice doctor is pretty sharp on lab work, but I'll talk with her about it (I would notice my own high counts).
I almost began aspirin a couple of times, but each time I proved to be 'bleeder.'
Anyway, my blood flows very freely as a result of my diet.
@edgarblythe,
I have an old history of a slightly to somewhat long protime, within normal range, but as an old lab tech I know some other people clot faster.
@edgarblythe,
edgarblythe wrote:I almost began aspirin a couple of times, but each time I proved to be 'bleeder.'
Anyway, my blood flows very freely as a result of my diet.
Years ago, I used to take many aspirins per day,
3 or 4 or more at a time, against headaches and as a blood thinner.
After some years of this, I found that it can be bad for your hearing.
@edgarblythe,
edgarblythe wrote:What? What did you say?
If u take more than a dozen aspirins a day for several years, it can be bad for your ears.
I have complained of this to several medical doctors.
@OmSigDAVID,
I never took lots at a time, but most of my life it was my first choice in pain remedies. I never have had headaches, but I would have aches and pains, generally caused by my work. I don't know what a headache feels like.
I 've heard that taking aspirin with a milk product
offers protection in your stomach.
@OmSigDAVID,
Taken with alcohol, it makes a hole.
@edgarblythe,
I take it
AFTER the alcohol, to prevent a headache.
