What are the benefits of? - High Cholesterol Message Board

Moxie75 · 10-19-2005, 08:03 AM

What are the benefits of taking an aspirin a day if you have high cholesterol and high BP? Or is it a bad idea?

Lisa

Tobias · 10-19-2005, 12:07 PM

It's not necessarily a bad idea although it won't have much effect on either lipid levels or blood pressure. One benefit of daily aspirin is that it slows clotting. The Amer. Heart Assn. recommends a daily aspirin for all persons who have had a heart attack unless there is some reason they cannot take aspirin. Other studies have indicated that taking aspirin might help prevent colon cancer. Aspirin can cause serious injury to the stomach lining giving rise to internal bleeding and because of it's blood thinning action, can increase the risk of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain. But for some individuals it may actually help prevent a stroke. In any case, the full daily 325 mg dose may not be necessary; rather, a daily 81 mg dose (so-called "baby" aspirin size) may be all that is needed to derive the heart disease prevention benefits. Confusing, no? Bottom line is that one probably should start a daily dose of aspirin only on advice of one's physician. Although it's a very old drug, it's still a drug nevertheless, with potential undesirable side effects.

Lenin · 10-20-2005, 06:57 AM

I take more than one...usually 2 adult aspirin a day, more if I have any joint pain.

The medical profession recognizes the anti-clotting benefits of aspirin but I think they are a little slow at connecting it's well-known anti-inflammatory effects with arterial inflammation.
Yes, there is a stroke risk with too much aspirin and the strong possibility of gastritis, but I judge the risk is overblown. MANY people took 16, 20, 24 aspirin a day, year after year, for arthritis before the invention of the better drugs (like VIOXX.

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I value huge demographic testing like that.

I think aspirin might be the greatest drug ever discovered...certainly in the top 10.