100 Mg Aspirin Per Day ?

[pb2003]

Is it generally considered as "wise" to take 100 mg aspirin per day, being 50 years and older, in order to prevent heartproblems, while not having had heartproblems in the past ?

[lopburi3]

Will let Pepe give the final word but I consider it wise (although if you have a bleeding problem or other conditions it might not be good so best to have it prescribed I would think). I have been taking for the last decade or so.

[Pepe']

Best approach is St. Joseph's 81 mg baby aspirin or an equivalent 81 mg enteric coated baby aspirin.

Some current research indicates that even that dose only needs to bee takin every other day to get results.

The benefits far outweigh the risks on this one.

If you have a tendency to bleed easily, stomach ulcers a GI bleed is easy to detect with an occasional Hemocult test kit . Availible in pharmacys here, you just check a small stool sample at home. Or easy enough to chech at a lab.

In my opinion 100 mg per day is probably a little high for most people.

Good Health

[cathyy]

I wouldn't advise taking aspirin daily (or every other day) without your doctor knowing and approving. No reason not to bring it up with him. There is no doubt that it is useful as a blood "thinner" but you don't know if you need a blood thinner, unless perhaps you have a family history of strokes, deep vein thrombosis, and cardiac artery blockage. And if you do, the doctor is quite likely to have you on something much more effective and will be monitoring your blood clotting time (INR) to make sure the dosage is correct and you stay at therapeutic levels so that you aren't in danger from, say, a nosebleed or small cut.

I DO have that family history, and the doc doesn't have me on anything for it. I plan to take an aspirin before my 24-hour flight to LOS next month because of the statistically significant relationship between DVT and flying coach. Other than that I will follow the doc's orders. If he wanted me to take an aspirin daily he'd say so.

[ASIC]

Is this really the right place to ask questions about heart-attacks one wonders?

ASIC

[ASIC]

a GI bleed is easy to detect with an occasional Hemocult test kit .

A Hemo Cult? What exactly do they worship there, and is it some worth joining?

ASIC

[lopburi3]

Is this really the right place to ask questions about heart-attacks one wonders?

ASIC

Believe this question is. And believe even most doctors, who would the last to recommend self prescription, would agree.

Would like to point out the local baby aspirin (Aspent-M) sold in 50 count containers for about 22 baht is 60mg size (Thai average size is taken into account for many medications here).

You might want to remember that when the hospital writes a prescription and you look it up - often dosage will be less than you would be given elsewhere so if you are not average Thai size you might want to question the doctor.

[farangene]

Best approach is St. Joseph's 81 mg baby aspirin or an equivalent 81 mg enteric coated baby aspirin.

Dr. Pepe,

Thanks for your sage advice in this forum and I eagerly search out your replies in the health forum.

Re: the aspirin question. I have been taking daily aspirin for the last 6-9 months because both of my parents (now deceased) had been advised by their doctors to take daily aspirin for hypertension problems. I checked the dosage of the aspirin that I am taking and found they Bayer aspirin sold by a Thai Pharmacy was a whopping 500 mg so I will definitely cut that back to 100 mgs or less. I am not aware of any problems resulting from my aspirin intake. On the contrary, it sure makes the day after a golf outing, more enjoyable!

Also, the following URL will lead to a story in a San Francisco paper re the efficiency of the aspirin-a-day approach that might be of interest. The title of the article (originally printed in NY Times) is "Aspirin often ineffective for strokes, study says ". It points out that from 5 to 40% of people are aspirin-resistent.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...MNGJA7OJQS1.DTL

[waldwolf]

I have been taking an 81 mg enteric coated aspirin every day, for years Recommended by my doctor's after having several blood clots in lower legs. (No clots since.)

The enteric coating allows the aspirin to disolve in the intestine, rather than the stomach, so as to avoid "stomach upset/bleeding, etc." in sensitive individuals. (Due to the rather long delay enteric coated aspirin take to disolve, they are not recommended for treatment where "fast" pain relief is needed, such as headaches, pain, etc. , however, some people do use full-strength (325-500mg) enteric coated aspirin for extended pain treatment, such as arthritis.

Many doctors also recommend you carry one or two standard aspirin with you at all times, in the event you have a stroke or heart attack. It could save your life and/or aid in faster recovery with fewer complications.

Sidenote: 30+ years ago I discovered, if I felt a cold coming on and immediately took 2 regular aspirin, 9 out of 10 times the cold never developed. Then about 8 years ago the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center (rated #5 in USA) did a 2 year study in an attempt to discover how aspirin actually works in the body. After two years they announced they still didn't know how it actually worked, but did discover aspirin activates the immune system. HA-ha.......now I knew why my cold/aspirin theory worked. Instead of waiting for the virus to gain a foothold, the aspirin caused the immune system to start an immediate search/destroy action.

As with all things medical, it is best to consult a professional.

[Pepe']

a GI bleed is easy to detect with an occasional Hemocult test kit .

A Hemo Cult? What exactly do they worship there, and is it some worth joining?

ASIC

her in San diego there are several different test kits avaiible.

The on that is the most user friendly is is one that can check if there is occult blood in the stool while it is in the toilet.

Otherwise you need to smear a small amount of stool on a card and have it read.

[Pepe']

I wouldn't advise taking aspirin daily (or every other day) without your doctor knowing and approving. No reason not to bring it up with him. There is no doubt that it is useful as a blood "thinner" but you don't know if you need a blood thinner, unless perhaps you have a family history of strokes, deep vein thrombosis, and cardiac artery blockage. And if you do, the doctor is quite likely to have you on something much more effective and will be monitoring your blood clotting time (INR) to make sure the dosage is correct and you stay at therapeutic levels so that you aren't in danger from, say, a nosebleed or small cut.

I DO have that family history, and the doc doesn't have me on anything for it. I plan to take an aspirin before my 24-hour flight to LOS next month because of the statistically significant relationship between DVT and flying coach. Other than that I will follow the doc's orders. If he wanted me to take an aspirin daily he'd say so.

Talking with your Doc is usually a good idea. The benefits of aspirin use are far more reaching than blood thinning...

[Davidcharles]

75mg Asprin is ok, taken with food.

You only need it if you have already had a minor stroke.

It may (did me) give you Tinnitus.

I now take 75mg Clopidogrel (Plavix) daily as an alternative to Asprin.

Please note: If you are on ANY Blood Thinning Medication, you MUST stop taking it at least a week before Surgery of any kind!

I didn't some years ago and nearly bled to death.......

[witsawakorn]

Best approach is St. Joseph's 81 mg baby aspirin or an equivalent 81 mg enteric coated baby aspirin.

Dr. Pepe,

Thanks for your sage advice in this forum and I eagerly search out your replies in the health forum.

Re: the aspirin question. I have been taking daily aspirin for the last 6-9 months because both of my parents (now deceased) had been advised by their doctors to take daily aspirin for hypertension problems. I checked the dosage of the aspirin that I am taking and found they Bayer aspirin sold by a Thai Pharmacy was a whopping 500 mg so I will definitely cut that back to 100 mgs or less. I am not aware of any problems resulting from my aspirin intake. On the contrary, it sure makes the day after a golf outing, more enjoyable!

Also, the following URL will lead to a story in a San Francisco paper re the efficiency of the aspirin-a-day approach that might be of interest. The title of the article (originally printed in NY Times) is "Aspirin often ineffective for strokes, study says ". It points out that from 5 to 40% of people are aspirin-resistent.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...MNGJA7OJQS1.DTL

I recommend reading thefollowing before self medicating http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8072215.stm. Actually I would recommend that people who don't have a regular blood test (PT) don't self medicate anti coagulants based on a dosage level posted on a web forum as everyone is different