February 28, 2013

Aspirin Therapy

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

For many years, doctors have been prescribing aspirin therapy as a cheap, effective way to reduce cardiovascular events and improve survival after a heart attack. Neither of these is true.

Even low dose aspirin therapy has serious side effects that, just like statin drugs for cholesterol, overshadow any supposed benefit. The evidence in support of aspirin has always been weak, and over the last decade it has become even weaker.

The benefit purported by medicine for taking aspirin is that of its antiplatelet activity. They say that it helps save lives by reducing deaths from heart attacks.

Ten years ago, Dr. John G.F. Cleland, a cardiologist from the UK, published a paper in the British Journal of Medicine. He did an analysis of 100,000 patients at high risk of cardiac events. It was concluded that aspirin therapy was not shown to save lives. Specifically, he said the antiplatelet activity of aspirin is not as safe and effective as widely believed. He said all large long term trials of people taking aspirin showed those who take aspirin did not live any longer. He also found that aspirin changes the way vascular events present themselves, rather than actually preventing them. The number of non-fatal events may be reduced, but the number of sudden deaths increased. Aspirin may conceal a heart attack that is occurring up and until you are suddenly dead! Would you rather have warning a heart attack is coming so you can get to the hospital, or would you rather just keel over dead? You choose.

Other studies in 2009 and 2010 came to the same conclusion that aspirin therapy does not lower the risk of heart attack for diabetics, men or women, young or old.

An aspirin a day can’t really hurt anything can it? Well, that depends on your definition of hurt. If increased risk of GI bleeding and pancreatic cancer, duodenal ulcers, GI damage, diverticular disease, kidney failure, cataracts and macular degeneration doesn’t hurt, then go ahead, keep taking it.

A very recent study of age related macular degeneration showed an increase in risk from 1 in 200, to 1 in 100 when aspirin therapy is used. A separate study correlated increased risk with an increase in how frequently you’ve taken aspirin.

The real key to preventing heart disease is to simply do all you can to improve your physical and emotional health. Restrict your intake of fructose to less than 25 grams per day, avoid highly processed foods, preservatives, additives, artificial sweeteners and grains as much as possible. Start taking high quality, animal based omega 3 fats such as krill oil and fish oils. Eat more organic coconut oil and get more than enough vitamins D3 and K2. Exercise more regularly, get more sleep, and keep your weight under control.

Those ideas, my friends, are what wellness looks like. There is no magic pill that will substitute for plain old healthy living. You must take control of your health, it is your responsibility, not your neighbors or doctors.
The Bible says all man’s days are numbered, so none of these good ideas will add a single day to your appointed life on earth. But living well sure can help make your days on earth more healthy and enjoyable.

**After I wrote this column earlier this week, I heard a news report I just have to comment on. If you read these diatribes of mine often enough, you know I just can’t stomach the lies of the vaccine industry and the purveyors of their poisons. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard that the supposedly “good match” of this year’s flu vaccine has now been found to be only 9% (yeah, you read that right!) 9% effective this season. Even better was the last line of the report that said doctors are still urging patients to get the flu shot.(Definition of insanity?) If you bought a new car and it only worked 9 days out of every 100, would you ever buy that kind of car again?  Just sayin’!