Please open & read the following attachment (a report by Dr. Joseph Mercola):
The following article by Christine O'Brien was transcribed verbatim from:
http://www.healthiertalk.com/aspirin-day-does-absolutely-nothing-1191
An aspirin a day…does absolutely nothing?
By Christine O'Brien on 01/14/2010
Doctors, the American Heart Association, well-meaning friends…they all say an aspirin a day does wonders for the heart. So, every day, 50 million Americans pop a baby aspirin in the hopes of warding off a heart attack. Every day, they risk gastrointestinal bleeding and more—only to find now that it could all be for nothing.
Know someone who's still singing the misguided praises of an aspirin a day to keep the heart attack away (like, say, the American Heart Association…)?
You'll probably want to forward this to them immediately.
Because, try as they might to ignore it, the evidence is really piling up. The second study this year has shown that an aspirin a day could have absolutely no benefit. Yep, that's right—none.
The latest study is a meta-analysis of diabetic patients (published online in BMJ). In it, researchers found absolutely no statistically significant differences in the risk of major cardiovascular events or mortality between patients who were taking a daily aspirin and patients who weren't. They also found "inconsistent" evidence of harm from aspirin use. An accompanying editorial warned against recommending treatments without supporting evidence. Seems pretty obvious to me.
Earlier this year, the Lancet published a similar analysis questioning the use of aspirin for heart event prevention. And the mainstream let it quietly slip through the cracks. But the evidence is getting pretty hard to ignore.
Even CNN has gotten on board, with an article exclaiming that the risks of daily aspirin therapy may outweigh the benefits. Of course, the American Heart Association hasn't updated their recommendations—or even acknowledged any of this research at all.
It's a shame, really—all those mainstreamers falling in line without even knowing if their exalted therapy really works. All of those trusting patients, putting their health on the line…for nothing.
I mean, we're talking serious dangers here. We've all known for a long time about the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. But there's more. I told you back in May about the dangers of brain "microbleeds" associated with aspirin ("Yet more bleeding risk associated with aspirin," 5/18/09).
These microbleeds are connected with decreased brain function, hemorrhage, and a host of diseases including Alzheimer's. Back then, "experts" proclaimed that this new finding shouldn't change anything—that the benefits of daily aspirin therapy far outweigh the risks.
And now we find there could be absolutely no benefit at all.
Amazing.
So what does Dr. Wright recommend for actually protecting your heart? His seal of approval goes to good old fish oil. It does a literal "lube job" on your platelets, so they can't stick together. It also reduces the risk of sudden cardiac death, reduces abnormally high triglycerides, increases HDL ("good") cholesterol and decreases abnormally high levels of fibrinogen (another independent cardiovascular risk factor), and reduces your risk of "re-stenosis" (re-clogging) of your coronary arteries.
He recommends at least 1 tablespoon of fish oil every day—if your cardiovascular risk is elevated, 1 tablespoon twice daily. Cod liver oil is best, since it also supplies a substantial amount of vitamin D. Don't forget to take 400 IU of vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) daily for each tablespoonful of fish oil. And make sure that the brand of fish oil you use has no heavy metals, especially mercury, and is free of other toxins.
The American Heart Association may be turning a blind eye, but the American Diabetes Association plans to readjust their guidelines—they're going to recommend a daily aspirin to only the highest risk patients.
Nothing like suggesting an absolutely useless therapy laden with risks to the people who need help the most!
Sources:
"No Benefits of Aspirin for Primary Prevention in Diabetics, Meta-Analysis Suggests," MedScape Today (www.medscape.com).
"Risks of daily aspirin may outweigh the benefits," CNN (www.cnn.com).
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/04/aspirin.risk.heart.attacks/ind... talks about diabetes as well and those using aspirin for that. Either way, aspirin doesn't help me at all and just makes my ears ring, so it's on my no no list.
Risks of daily aspirin may outweigh the benefits
By Denise Mann, Health.com
November 4, 2009 -- Updated 2238 GMT (0638 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
About 50 million Americans take low-dose aspirin to prevent cardiovascular problems
Although aspirin thins the blood and helps prevent clots, it is not risk-free
Aspirin can cause gastrointestinal bleeding and other problems
Report emphasizes need for dialogue between patient and health provider
RELATED TOPICS
Heart Attacks
American Diabetes Association
Diabetes
(Health.com) -- Taking a low-dose aspirin every day can help prevent heart attacks in people who've already had one. But if you've never had a heart attack (or stroke), the risks of taking a daily low-dose aspirin outweigh the benefits, according to a U.K. report published in Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.
About 50 million Americans take low-dose (325 milligrams per day or less) aspirin to prevent cardiovascular problems. Some do so even though they don't have heart disease or a history of heart attack or stroke, an approach known as primary prevention.
Currently, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends low-dose aspirin for primary prevention in people with diabetes who are at risk for cardiovascular disease--but this will be changing. (Diabetes can dramatically increase the risk of developing heart disease.)
"Because of some recent studies suggesting that the benefit is not very large, and because aspirin can also have risks (intestinal bleeding or hemorrhagic stroke), the January 2010 recommendations will recommend it mostly for higher-risk people than was the case in the past, when it was recommended for people with more moderate levels of risk and above," says Dr. M. Sue Kirkman, the vice president of clinical affairs for the ADA.
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The authors of the new analysis say there's not enough evidence to justify the routine use of low-dose aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease in apparently healthy people, including those with elevated blood pressure or diabetes.
Kirkman stresses that people with diabetes who are taking aspirin--and have no history of heart attack--should talk to their doctor and see if he or she recommends continuing the therapy.
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"There isn't a strong rationale to take people off it if they're doing fine," she explains.
Although aspirin thins the blood and helps prevent clots, it is not risk free, according to the U.K. review led by a panel of experts.
For example, the researchers looked at two large studies of people with diabetes (one with 1,276 participants and the other with 2,539) and found that those who took 81 to 100 milligrams of aspirin daily were just as likely to have a heart attack or stroke in the next four to seven years as those who did not.
Aspirin can cause gastrointestinal bleeding and other problems--some of them serious. People who take aspirin daily are two to four times as likely to have upper gastrointestinal problems, such as an ulcer with complications, than those not taking aspirin (even if the aspirin is buffered or has a protective coating to limit stomach problems).
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Although aspirin can prevent clots, which cause about 80 percent of strokes, it may increase the risk of hemorrhagic strokes, which are caused by bleeding in the brain.
"This article synthesizes what many people in the field are beginning to feel: The risks of daily aspirin therapy exceeds the benefits in people who have not had a heart attack," says Dr. Steven E. Nissen, the chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio.
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The American Heart Association recommends daily low-dose aspirin for people who have had a heart attack, for those with heart disease--related chest pain known as unstable angina, or those who have had a clot-related stroke (or those who have had ministrokes, episodes that suggest a stroke is imminent). In general, the risk of heart attack has to be 10 percent within the next decade to warrant daily aspirin use, the group says.
In 2004, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel rejected the idea of using aspirin for primary prevention.
"If you have had a heart attack, bypass surgery, or a history of coronary artery disease, the benefits of daily aspirin therapy do outweigh the risks," Nissen says. "If you never had a heart attack or heart disease, you need to be at very high risk to benefit from daily low-dose aspirin therapy."
So who falls into this very high-risk category?
According to Nissen, "the right person would likely have a cluster of risk factors for heart disease, such as diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure," he says. "Once you have a cluster of risk factors, you start to look like someone who has already had a heart attack."
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The bottom line? "Do not take daily aspirin therapy on your own," Nissen advises. "This review article emphasizes the need for a dialogue between a patient and provider about the benefits and risks," he says. Risks include gastrointestinal bleeding and a small, but potentially devastating, risk of bleeding in the brain.
"You can't ignore the risk side to the equation," Nissen says.