Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday July 23 2019, @09:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-chewing-on-birch-bark,-either dept.

Widespread Aspirin use Despite Few Benefits, High Risks:

Aspirin use is widespread among groups at risk for harm including older adults and adults with peptic ulcers -- painful sores in the lining of the stomach that are prone to bleeding that affect about one in ten people. In a research report published today in Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) report on the extent to which Americans 40 years old and above use aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

"Although prior American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology guidelines recommended aspirin only in persons without elevated bleeding risk, the 2019 guidelines now explicitly recommend against aspirin use among those over the age of 70 who do not have existing heart disease or stroke," said senior author Christina C. Wee, MD, MPH, a general internist and researcher at BIDMC and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Our findings suggest that a substantial portion of adults may be taking aspirin without their physician's advice and potentially without their knowledge."

[...] Concerningly, nearly half of adults 70 years and older without a history of heart disease or stroke reported taking aspirin daily. The authors noted that a history of peptic ulcer disease -- another contraindication for the routine use of aspirin -- was not significantly associated with lower aspirin use as one would have expected.

"Our findings show a tremendous need for health care practitioners to ask their patients about ongoing aspirin use and to advise them about the importance of balancing the benefits and harms, especially among older adults and those with prior peptic ulcer disease," said lead author Colin O'Brien, MD, a senior internal medicine resident at BIDMC and fellow at Harvard Medical School.

Journal Reference:
Colin W. O'Brien, Stephen P. Juraschek, Christina C. Wee. Prevalence of Aspirin Use for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in the United States: Results From the 2017 National Health Interview Survey. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.7326/M19-0953

So take one of these and call the doctor in the morning... but only if instructed to do so and there are no other contraindications.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 23 2019, @05:33PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 23 2019, @05:33PM (#870403)

    Btw what is the current status on salt?

    "It depends"

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3724405/ [nih.gov]

    The relationship between salt intake and cardiovascular risk is not linear, but rather fits a J-shaped curve relationship. Thus, a low-salt diet may not be beneficial to everyone and may paradoxically increase blood pressure in some individuals.

    If you want lower blood pressure - eat healthily, lose excess weight and get more exercise. Take less salt IF taking less salt turns out to lower your blood pressure.

    Eat healthily = drink enough water, eat more leafy green vegetables, eat less carbs (starches and sugars) and have your proteins mainly from fish or poultry.

    See also:
    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-end-the-war-on-salt/ [scientificamerican.com]

    Over the long-term, low-salt diets, compared to normal diets, decreased systolic blood pressure (the top number in the blood pressure ratio) in healthy people by 1.1 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) by 0.6 mmHg. That is like going from 120/80 to 119/79.

    Note that's for healthy people... So it's still as I said- take less salt IF taking less salt turns out to lower your blood pressure.