Thanks to countless TV commercials, many people believe that aspirin can reduce the risk of heart attacks, even colon cancer. Based on this belief they take regular (325 mg) or baby (81 mg) aspirin every day. The problem is that this supposed benefit is a lie.
Early studies with aspirin showed absolutely no benefits when it came to preventing heart attacks. (BMJ 1974 vol. 1 p. 436, Lancet Vol. 2 p. 1313, JAMA Feb 15, 1980, BMJ 1988 vol. 296 pg. 313-6). Then one study which used Bufferin (aspirin and magnesium) showed that while the number of fatal heart attacks was not reduced, there were 40% fewer non-fatal heart attacks in people taking Bufferin. This is the reason why doctors recommend aspirin for prevention of heart attacks.
It is almost certain that magnesium was responsible for Bufferin’s benefits, not aspirin. Magnesium is well known for its positive effect on heart and blood vessels. But it was completely ignored and aspirin came out a winner.
A review published in Lancet on May 30, 2009 analyzed the results of previous studies that used aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes. They looked at 6 studies that evaluated 95,000 people for an average of 7 years.
People taking aspirin did not have any benefits. They had just as many heart attacks, strokes, and vascular deaths as people who did not take aspirin. But they had significantly more bleeding complications, especially gastrointestinal.
The authors of the study concluded that their results “do not seem to justify general guidelines advocating the routine use of aspirin in all healthy individuals.” In other words, current practice of routinely giving aspirin to all people who might be at risk of heart disease is wrong.
It is not justified by any scientific evidence, it is simply a very good marketing on the part of aspirin manufacturers. If you are taking aspirin, please be aware that you are not getting any benefit and are putting yourself at a higher risk of major bleeding complications.
Taking aspirin every day can get you in trouble because it has many side effects. It can cause irritation of the stomach and intestine. In many people it causes stomach ulcers, bleeding, and perforation (a hole in the wall of the stomach or intestine). According to New England Journal of Medicine, over 100,000 people are admitted to the hospital every year with bleeding ulcers caused by aspirin and other aspirin-like drugs (Motrin, Advil, Alleve, etc.) and over 16,500 of them die.
According to an article in the Journal of American Dental Association, 50 to 70% of people taking aspirin develop irritation of the stomach and bleeding. This is true whether they take regular or baby aspirin.
And don’t think that “buffered” aspirin is any better when it comes to gastro-intestinal bleeding. A study in Lancet found that the risk of bleeding was 2.6 times higher in people taking 325 mg or less of regular aspirin compared to people not taking any aspirin. The risk in people taking “buffered” aspirin was 3.1 higher. In people who took more than 325 mg of regular aspirin a day the risk was 5.8 times higher, while in those taking buffered aspirin it was 7.0 time higher. In other words, people taking buffered aspirin actually had higher risk!
But that is not the only problem with aspirin. According to an article in the journal Ophthalmology (September 1998), people who used aspirin for 10 or more years had over 40% higher risk of developing cataracts, especially if they were younger than 65 years of age.
Even worse, aspirin can actually increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. This has to do with the fact that many people are aspirin-resistant. In some people aspirin prevents platelets from sticking together and forming a blood clot. These people are called aspirin-sensitive. In others it does exactly the opposite, so they are called aspirin-resistant.
According to an article in the Thrombosis Journal (January 2004), up to 40% of people may be aspirin resistant. A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (March 2003) showed that aspirin resistance is associated with an increased risk of death, heart attacks and strokes compared with aspirin-sensitive patients, 24% vs. 10%.
Aspirin use has been linked to macular degeneration, one of the major causes of blindness in the U.S. Macula is located in the center of the retina (the back of an eye). It has the most concentration of the visual elements and if something goes wrong with it, the eye stops seeing. Macular degeneration was usually the disease of old people and it was practically unheard of in people younger than 60 years old. But not any more. Now almost 10% of people with macular degeneration are under 60 years of age, thanks to widespread use of aspirin. It turns out that aspirin causes small hemorrhages into the macula, which causes macular degeneration.
A study of over 88,000 female nurses found that those who took 2 aspirins daily for 20 years had a 58% increase in pancreatic cancer vs. those not taking aspirin. Pancreatic cancer is now #5 cause of cancer deaths and the number of cases have gone up a lot in recent years. Is aspirin to blame?
Aspirin can trigger asthma attacks in people who are sensitive to it. Studies show that regular use of aspirin can damage your kidneys and your liver.
So aspirin is not the lifesaver you thought it to be. Stop taking aspirin and start using natural alternatives.