Re: Aspirin
- From: "Roman Bystrianyk" <rbystrianyk@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 28 Jan 2007 08:39:01 -0800
Good day.
You may not be aware of the risks and costs of aspirin therapy. This
article maybe of interest. Enjoy your day.
Roman
Roman Bystrianyk, "Aspirin Risks In Healthy Individuals", Health
Sentinel, January 16, 2005,
Felix Hoffman at Bayer Industries synthesized aspirin over 100 years
ago. Today there have been many ads promoting aspirin's potential to
reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in certain people. However,
the decision to use aspirin as a preventative is not as simple as it
looks. What generally has not been analyzed are the risks and costs
associated with aspirin therapy.
In the January issue of The Annals of Pharmacotherapy the authors
analyze the lifetime cumulative risk, the potential negative effects
on quality-adjusted-life-years (QALYs), life expectancy, and cost of
aspirin therapy. The authors construct a model of healthy individuals
starting at age 50 taking a 325 mg enteric-coated daily aspirin. Based
on numerous references the authors take into account adverse effects
such as upper gastrointestinal bleeding, quality of life factor, and
aspirin cost.
Based on their analysis, aspirin therapy only had a modest negative
effect on both QALYs and life expectancy. The average lifetime cost
was determined to be $460 per person.
However, the authors found that, "for every 15 healthy 50-year-old men
started on aspirin therapy, one will have a complication in his
lifetime; for every 556 individuals started on aspirin therapy, one
will die from complications." Comparison of death risk of lifetime
aspirin therapy (1 in 556) versus other mortality risks were listed as
follows: hip surgery (1 in 345), cardiac catheterization (1 in 500),
general anesthesia (1 in 3,685), annual accidents (1 in 3,014), food
poisoning (1 in 56,424), sky diving (1 in 70,130 per dive), and yearly
driving with a cell phone (1 in 76,900).
The authors also note that, "starting aspirin at an earlier age
resulted in a larger absolute reduction in both QALYs and life
expectancy, increased cost, and not surprisingly, a greater number of
complications."
The authors also analyzed the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to
reduce the aspirin risk. They determined a modest increase in quality
of life and life expectancy, and a decreased risk in major and
intermediate GI (gastrointestinal) bleeds by 50%, but at a substantial
increase in cost. The addition of PPIs resulted in an increase from an
average lifetime cost of $460 per person to $18,400.
The authors do not attempt to incorporate any of the potential
benefits of aspirin. On the contrary, as the aim of the study was to
determine the risk, all complication rates attributable to aspirin
from numerous scientific sources were utilized. The authors note that,
"although good published data exist to accurately model the drawbacks
of aspirin therapy, the benefits of aspirin in cancer chemoprevention
are preliminary at best and will likely not be apparent for at least
10 years of aspirin therapy. Short-term data for the efficacy of
aspirin for the prevention of primary coronary events exist, but long-
term data are currently unavailable."
SOURCE: The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, January 2005
On Jan 24, 10:54 am, "Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD"
<and...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
neighbor BatGuy wrote:
convicted neighbor Ma¢k wrote:
neighbor BatGuy wrote:
convicted neighbor Ma¢k wrote:
neighbor BatGuy wrote:
I am prescribed aspirin together with zocor. I just don't take aspirin.
Is there any harm? I just feel that its not a necessity. I still get it
though from my company doctor.
why were you prescribed it?
For my heart problem. Its supposed to thin the blood.
and your question is, is there any harm, meaning any harm in not
taking it? I think that questions answers itself. yes it could be
harmful not taking it.
if the problem is that you simply do not like "aspirin" then you can
discuss alternatives with your doctor. but you need to thin the blood
to take proper care of your cardiac problem. Follow your doctor's
advice.You're right Mack. This is also the reply the doctor himself would give.
I'm looking for somebody with an alternative medicine mindset. Who ishigh that it is comparable to the risk of someone who has already had
concerned about the harmful effects aspirin would give to our body in
comparison to the benefit it would give. If the benefit outweighs the
harm it may cause, I should take it, no doubt about it.Diabetics are at high risk for heart attack or stroke. This risk is so
either. For this reason, diabetes is also known as a "risk equivalent"
for coronary disease. The benefit of taking a daily baby aspirin for
markedly lowering the risk of heart attacks and strokes far outweighs
the small risk of gastrointestinal problems, which are easily addressed
by either the addition of PPIs or the change to something like
clopidogrel in the uncommon event that the aspirin is simply not
tolerated.
Andrew <><
--
Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhDhttp://EmoryCardiology.com
.
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