Articles about current medical research findings on the following topics are presented for your benefit.

Aspirin
Few drugs have saved as many lives or have as many uses as aspirin.  It remains the safest medicine for pain relief.  Aspirin is an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and the anti-inflammatory benefits of salicylic acid have been known for centuries.  In the 19^th century chemists added an acetyl unit to salicylic acid to overcome the stomach discomfort and created a new drug, aspirin, with many added benefits.  Aspirin with regular use relieves pain, reduces blood pressure and enhances blood flow in small vessels.  Narrowed blood vessels are associated with heart attack, stroke, heart failure and peripheral vascular disease.

Updated Guidelines on Secondary Stroke Prevention
For patients with carotid artery stenosis and a TIA, optimal medical therapy should include antiplatelet therapy, statin treatment, and risk factor modification (Class I; Level B).
Patients with a stroke or TIA caused by 50% to 99% stenosis of a major intracranial artery should receive aspirin. READ MORE

It was in 1950 that an American physician discovered that regular aspirin use could prevent clots that form inside arteries and cause heart attacks and strokes.  Thirty years later, many studies were reported in prominent medical journals on the advantages of aspirin in preventing and treating heart attacks and strokes.  During a heart attack, a clot in the heart’s artery blocks the flow of blood to the heart.  Heart muscle begins to die within 20 minutes and requires months to repair.  The more time that passes without treatment, the greater the damage. 

In 1989 the Physicians’ Health Study reported that men taking aspirin suffered 44% fewer heart attacks than their peers taking a placebo.  Many issues related to the use of aspirin for your heart were reported by the Harvard Medical School. READ MORE

Aspirin, used in vascular disease prophylaxis, is probably the most cost-effective drug available in clinical practice and low-dose aspirin is now a standard item in the long-term management of vascular disease. The main mode of action of aspirin in vascular disease appears to be through a reduction in platelet clumping inhibiting the development of a stable clot, and provides clot lysis.  In one study a coronary artery of a dog was occluded and ventricular fibrillation (arrhythmia) was prevented by aspirin.  Many additional benefits of aspirin can be found in this article.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death (after heart disease and cancer),but it is the number one cause of serious, long-term disability.  Stroke occurs when there is a sudden interruption of the blood supply to the brain. The American Heart Association recommends that men over 45 and postmenopausal women should take low dose aspirin.  Those on aspirin had 43% fewer strokes

Aspirin use is linked to lower rates of cancer.  Low dose aspirin reduces the risk of colon cancer by 50-60%.  Ten years of aspirin use may provide a 20% reduction of breast cancer, 30% reduction of lung cancer, and 50% reduction of prostate cancer. 

More information regarding the many uses of aspirin can be found on the link to the book Aspirin – the golden pill at fasprinhealth.com.