Daily Aspirin Therapy Ups Risk Of Brain Hemorrage
In 1998, medical researchers studied a small group of men who were at high risk for heart attacks. They found that taking daily doses of aspirin could cut the number of heart attacks in half. But, they also found that the same dosage of daily aspirin caused the men to suffer more strokes. Because of that sometimes fatal “side effect”-plus the admittedly limited study group- the researchers warned that patients should NOT start taking aspirin to prevent heart disease.
The day after their report was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, the aspirin makers- apparently given advance notice of the publication- flooded the media with press releases saying that “an aspirin a day” could prevent heart attacks. For more than a decade, people have swallowed the pills every day in the misguided belief that they were safe- guarding their cardiac health.
Even medical doctors believed the lie, and continue to prescribe aspirin to patients as a preventative measure, even if they are at low risk for heart attacks.
Instead of making them healthier, the aspirins are increasing their risk of stroke and serious gastrointestinal damage, as well
as numerous other potential side effects.
Recently, researchers found more evidence that the so-called “aspirin therapy” increases the risk of brain hemorrhages, also known as hemorrhagic stroke.
Jiang He. M.D., Ph.D., of Tulane University of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, and colleagues reviewed 16 controlled trials of preventive aspirin therapy to estimate the risk of hemorrhagic stroke associated with aspirin treatment. Brain hemorrhages account for about 15% of all strokes.
The researched showed that although aspirin lowered the risk for heart attack by about 32%, it increased the risk for hemorrhagic stroke by 84%. Previous research into the dangers of aspirin has shown 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 300mgs. of aspirin / day
- Even low doses of aspirin can increase the risk of brain hemorrhage
- Other side effects can include anemia, bleeding ulcers, confusion and dizziness and numerous other problems.
SOURCES: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Dec. 9, 1998.
“The preliminary report of the findings of the aspirin component of the ongoing Physicians’ Health Study: the FDA perspective on aspirin for the primary prevention of myocardial infarction.”
The Journal of the American Medical Association, June 3,1988 v259 n21 p3158 (3)
“Don’t jump the gun with aspirin: there are surer ways to help prevent (heart attacks), ones that don’t increase stroke risk.” Medical World News, May 23,1988 v29 n10 p50 (1)
Health Watch 2-99
|
