Archive for February 16th, 2012
This is a reminder that the schedule for this blog has changed. I will be publishing on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month.
Daily Aspirin Is Not For Everyone
As a Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner I believe that all medicines are toxins with one or two good side effects. There are NO medicines that are preventative. All medicines work in the body to either enhance or block one of the body’s normal mechanisms for establishing and maintaining homeostasis. Anything that disrupts homeostasis causes stress in the body and has consequences. So… I always go a little nuts when one of my patients comes in and tells me that they take baby aspirin every day to prevent a cardiovascular event or stroke or lower their cancer risk. I just think there are better ways to stay healthy and now the medical research is catching up to me!
Nearly a third of middle-aged Americans regularly take a baby aspirin. New research shows that aspirin is not for everyone, and that in some patients this so-called wonder drug is doing more harm than good.
Researchers in London reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine that they had analyzed nine randomized studies of aspirin use in the US, Europe and Japan that included more than 100,000 participants. The study subjects had never had a heart attack or stroke; all regularly took aspirin or a placebo to determine whether aspirin benefits people who have no established heart disease.
In the combined analysis, the researchers found that regular aspirin users were 10 percent less likely than the others to have any type of heart event and 20 percent less likely to have a nonfatal heart attack. While that sounds like good news, the study showed that the risks of regular aspirin use outweighed the benefits.
Aspirin users were about 3o percent more likely to have a serious gastrointestinal bleeding event, a side effect of frequent aspirin use. The overall risk of dying during the study was the same for the aspirin users and the others who did not take it. And although some previous studies suggested that regular aspirin use could prevent cancer, the new analysis showed no such benefit.
Over all, for every 162 people who took aspirin, the drug prevented one nonfatal heart attack, but caused about two serious bleeding episodes.
“We have been able to show quite convincingly that for people without a previous heart attack or stroke, regular use of aspirin may be more harmful than it is beneficial,’ said Dr. Sreenivasa Seshaisai of the Cardiovascular Sciences Research Center at St. George’s University of London.
These findings are likely to add to the confusion about who should regularly take aspirin and who should not.
Research shows that among men who have had a heart attack, regular aspirin use can be lifesaving, lowering the risk of a second heart event by 20- 30 percent. It also reduces the risk of a recurrence among women who have had a stroke caused by a blood clot.
Aspirin works by interfering with the blood’s clotting action. In blood vessels narrowed by heart disease, fatty deposits can burst, leading to the quick formation of a clot that blocks the flow of blood to the heart or brain. Regularly taking an aspirin helps prevent the clot from forming. (As an aside – regular exercise helps the body grow new peripheral blood vessels around blocked and narrowed areas. So, even if you have narrowing of your arteries you can improve your circulation and prevent catastrophic events. Plus, when you need your normal clotting mechanism, such as when you knock yourself and get a bruise, or cut yourself, it will work.)
Nearly half of current aspirin users , however, don’t have established cardiovascular disease and have never had a heart attack or stroke, and take aspirin in the hope of preventing one. Many of these people do this on their own without medical supervision.
So basically what this research is saying is that whether you take aspirin or not, the chance that you will die is the same. People who take aspirin are less likely to die from heart disease or stroke, if they have cardiovascular disease, but are more likely to die by bleeding to death. People who do not have cardiovascular disease will not die from heart attacks or strokes, but if they take aspirin, they are more likely to die from bleeding to death.
Hmmm. What do you choose? There is good research to show that life-style changes in diet and especially exercise have a profound effect on preventing cardiovascular disease and even repairing and preventing a second event. Wouldn’t it be worth it to eat better food, take a regular walk and pump a little iron to live a little longer? These changes might not be as easy as popping a little orange pill once a day, but you won’t have to worry about bleeding to death! And you’ll just feel a whole lot better.
If any of your friends have questions about chiropractic or our office, refer them to our CanPages (Yellow pages online) site for more information about us. www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html
If you’re looking for a holistic chiropractor Abbotsford is the place to look! Dr. Dorothea McCallum has been practicing drug free, surgery free, hands on chiropractic for over 20 years. Dr. Dorothea McCallum provides General Chiropractic Care for people of all ages, Pre and Perinatal care for Moms and babies – Webster Technique Certified, Wellness Care and Coaching – Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP) and Custom Corrective Orthotics.
Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks, 32900 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC. Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment. We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.