Posted on 04/15/2009 3:26:08 AM PDT by Daffynition
A DAILY dose of the “wonder drug” aspirin can cause bleeding in the brain, researchers have found.
Brain scans on more than 1,000 patients revealed a 70 per cent higher incidence of microscopic bleeding among those taking the drug.
The shock findings will be of major concern to the millions of Britons who take aspirin every day to stave off fatal heart attacks and strokes.
The drug is used to thin the blood, which reduces the risk of dangerous clots forming in key blood vessels.
Previous research has already shown that anti-clotting medicines can increase the risk of bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract – the oesophagus, stomach, or intestines.
But the new findings suggest they can also raise the odds of “cerebral microbleeds” that can be a sign of brain vessel disease.
British experts welcomed the findings but urged people using aspirin not to suddenly stop taking their medication.
Dr David Werring, honorary consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, said: “More research is needed to decide whether these micro-bleeds raise the risk of serious bleeding in the brain in people who take aspirin.
"Bleeds to the surface of the brain suggest a condition of a hardening of the arteries which may increase the risk of brain haemorrhage.
“But it is clear for the vast majority of aspirin users that the benefits far outweigh the risks.”
The latest study by Dutch researchers, published online in the Archives of Neurology, found no increased incidence of microbleeds in people taking clot-preventing drugs that act in different ways, such as heparin.
Both aspirin and carbasalate calcium, a chemical relative of aspirin, prevent the formation of clots by acting against platelets, the blood cells that form clots.
Aspirin is typically given to people at risk of heart attacks or stroke but can also be prescribed to patients with high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes.
As a long-term anticoagulant or a preventative measure for heart disease, the standard dose is 75mg of aspirin a day.
As a painkiller, the recommended dose is 275 to 300mg every six to eight hours, not exceeding three doses a day.
The study found people who took a relatively low dose of aspirin – 89mg – compared with those who took 102.8mg of carbasalate calcium – the equivalent of 82.2mg of aspirin – suffered more microbleeds.
At equivalent dosages, aspirin users were at nearly four times the risk of microbleeds compared with carbasalate calcium users.
The researchers at Erasmus MC University Medical Centre in Rotterdam found that when microbleeds occur in certain brain areas, they may indicate a type of small vessel disease known as cerebral amyloid angiopathy.
This involves the accumulation of a protein often related to Alzheimer’s disease which causes degeneration of smooth muscle cells and increases the susceptibility of blood vessels to rupture.
Dr Meike Vernooij and his colleagues accepted that the beneficial effects of anti-clotting drugs for individuals at risk for heart attack and stroke typically outweighed any risks of bleeding.
But they added: “Nevertheless, it may be that in selected persons such as those with signs of cerebral amyloid angiopathy, this risk-benefit ratio may differ for certain drugs like aspirin, thus influencing treatment decision.”
Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: “Aspirin is an antiplatelet drug and it is not surprising that it increases the risk of microbleeds.
“With any drug you have got to balance the risks of it versus the benefits, so you wouldn’t give aspirin to absolutely everybody.
“At the moment, I would only give it to people at high risk of heart attack.”
Well..., I’ve been taking aspirin all along, but I figure that’s better than smoking, drinking and taking street drugs... LOL...
Who knows..., I may have to give up on aspirin and go to those other alternatives.
ping
I see the NHS does not want to pay for aspirin anymore...
THANK YOU for that post. Media people are constantly trying to stampede us with numbers; the CNN report on American guns in the Mexican drug wars being a perfect example.
Either that in this case, or they don’t understand it themselves- which means they have no business trying to influence the public mind with it.
I started to get a headache about this report, so I took an aspirin...
Probably higher than the control group, but the conclusion, nonetheless is it does more good than harm.
So we’re all gonna die. This is news?
Taking too much aspirin can be very dangerous. I found out the hard way by developing internal bleeding and had to have blood transfusions to replace lost blood. Plus, I had to spend a week in the hospital.
(lol)
Well, I hear there’s a 70% higher chance of dying by drinking too much water. The phenomenon is better known by the colloquial term... “drowning”...
Years ago my father had a boxer who took aspirin after lifting weights before going to my fathers gym and box. After a few hits to the head he hemorrhaged and is now barely literate and has motor control issues over his body.
Actual, I know you are being funny, but drinking too much water can lead to water intoxication where your vital salts can get stripped and you die from it
Ahhh..., a good advertisement for Gatorade... :-)
[... disclaimer here..., although I drink Gatorade, I own no stock in it...]
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