If you're healthy and don't have a history of cardiovascular disease, daily low-dose aspirin is no longer recommended as a preventive measure, says a new guideline released by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology. The risks of internal bleeding and other side effects outweigh the benefits of aspirin in this group.
The new guideline, which was based on numerous recent studies, does not apply to people who have had a heart attack or stroke or who have undergone a bypass procedure. The recommendation to take low-dose aspirin therapy in this group is unchanged.
But for otherwise healthy people, it's better to stick with lifestyle changes to protect your heart. These include eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, healthy fat, lean meats, and whole grains; exercising regularly; and taking steps to keep blood pressure and cholesterol in a healthy range.
I can't take aspirin, even low-dose, because of the stomach effects. But, just two weeks ago, a lipidologist recommended that I try again.
I do remember my GP in Massachusetts telling me that a cardiologist she knows says that you can get sufficient therapeutic effect simply by licking an aspirin each day.
I get tinnitus when I take aspirin. Read recently does something positive with melanoma, which I have had trouble with. Aspirin helps avoid melanoma or doubles the risk. Pick the study you like?
-------------------------------- Several people have eaten my cooking and survived.
Posts: 25850 | Location: Still living at 9000 feet in the High Rockies of Colorado | Registered: 20 April 2005
Originally posted by CHAS: I get tinnitus when I take aspirin. Read recently does something positive with melanoma, which I have had trouble with. Aspirin helps avoid melanoma or doubles the risk. Pick the study you like?
Interesting. I am somewhat convinced that my tinnitis was caused by long term Tylenol and Motrin use -- not so much at high doses, but at the top of the OTC range for months at a time. I think I read somewhere that it was associated with NSAIDs.
Posts: 35428 | Location: West: North and South! | Registered: 20 April 2005
Due to family history of heart disease and my own overall health sitch, my doctor told me to start taking an 81 mg aspirin every day a couple of years ago. I have been doing that.
I had one doctor prescribe a drug at a low dose every day to prevent a thing. A couple years later a different doctor practically shrieked at me that "NO ONE SHOULD BE TAKING THAT EVERY DAY" (despite the fact that I know she had prescribed exactly that to someone else).
I had one doctor tell me to eat more nuts. I had another doctor tell me not to eat any nuts.
And so it goes.
No wonder they call it "practicing medicine"... keep practicing and maybe, one day, they'll get good at it.
It's the salicylic acid that causes tinnitus (usually temporary) in some people. Salicylic acid is also an ingredient in Pepto Bismol and probably other medications. I don't think it's in ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
Posts: 14230 | Location: Merry Land | Registered: 20 April 2005
