Aspirin Back In The News...

as seen in this recent article on the Time website...will probably have you believe that aspirin also removes carpet stains, mildew and who knows what other miracles.

Okay, so maybe I was over-doing it a little, but it doesn’t deter from the fact that despite whatever significant medical treatments and preventions are associated with aspirin, not everyone should be taking it. In fact, it’s a drug by definition which means no one should actually be taking it unless its absolutely necessary.

What really blows my mind is that the overall perception created by this drug’s hype points to the suggestion that everyone should be taking it daily. Even those people who may need to address a few conditions or ailments need to think about any form of treatment with a clear head...regardless if it’s a cheap everyday drug like aspirin or some multi-million dollar pharmaceutical ‘wonder cure’.

Unless I’ve missed it, I cannot find any references or suggestions of following a healthy lifestyle, exercising regularly, drinking enough water and ensuring you’re getting enough of the right nutrients.

The problem with news reports like this is that the some people tend to believe that they can continue living their current lifestyles (regardless of how unhealthy they may be) and that by simply taking an aspirin daily, their chances of getting cancer or any other disease will be virtually zero.

This article looks at the common reason why aspirin is given to high-risk cardiac patients as it helps to prevent heart attacks by preventing blood clots from forming, which can impede blood flow to the heart and brain.

However, the following excerpt reveals the side of aspirin many people may not know about:

“The new study in Archives is the largest of its kind to date. It includes nine clinical trials which together involve more than 100,000 study participants from a number of developed countries. In each of the nine trials, participants were randomly assigned either to take a daily aspirin or to take a placebo. On average, the aspirin-takers took their pills for six years.

“The analysis finds that, on average among the trials, one cardiovascular disease event was averted for every 120 people who took a daily aspirin. But there was one “nontrivial bleeding event” for every 73 people on the daily aspirin regimen. And the researchers found no significant difference in mortality between the aspirin groups and the placebo groups.”

The media needs to demonstrate responsibility when report on any story associated with pharmaceutical drugs...highlighting both potential treatments as well as the side effects and risks associated with them.

Aspirin has been around for many decades and may have helped contribute to some people addressing some ailments but it’s hardly a ‘miracle wonder drug’. In my opinion, there’s no such thing.

Following a pipe-dream where a pill can solve any health condition that is directly the result of a person’s unhealthy lifestyle and diet, is never the best solution. It may treat one or two conditions but without a holistic approach to health and wellbeing, you’ll be fighting a losing battle.

Footnote from Warren: The above posting was done by Dean one of our contributing editors.  I thought I should just add something. 

In the article that Dean refers to reference is made to a 15 – 37% reduction in the risk of dying from cancer for those people taking aspirin.  That sounds impressive but in reality it is not as spectacular as it may appear when it is put into perspective.   I’ll explain. 

Let’s take the average figures of death caused by cancer of all types across all races.  It is about 5.4 people per 1,000.  So, if there is a reduction of 15 – 37% in death rates then the mortality rate goes from 5.4 people per 1,000 to between 4.59 – 3.6 per 1,000.  In other words, about 1 – 2 people per 1,000 or, overall about 0.001 – 0.002%!  Not so significant when you look at it this way!  Then there could be many other factors which even generated that result such as the percentage of those people who were taking aspirin being more health conscious in many other ways!  These results of some of these studies have to be considered from multiple angles.