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Whether it would be medically correct, give some baby aspirin to your babe if he or she is not already taking it. Here is where we insert the ubiquitous drug ad disclaimer always listed last: “Ask your/his/her doctor if it’s right for you/him/her.”
Many studies have clearly demonstrated daily so-called low-dose aspirin in people with known cardiovascular disease, meaning those who have had a heart attack or stroke or have rusty arteries in general, find the occurrence of more attacks lessened about 24 percent to 30 percent compared to control groups. It isn’t 100 percent, but what is in life?
Some people shouldn’t take it because of possible erosion of stomach or upper small intestine and bleeding. But many folks who could benefit from it aren’t yet. It’s cheap (a medical rarity these days), very available and has few drug interactions — a real concern with “more mature” folks who cram down so-blamed many pills these days.
How it works is a bit complicated, of course. In this case, aspirin in blood diffuses into platelets — the cells responsible for starting clotting — and binds irreversibly to their enzyme sites called cyclo-oxygenase (COX) 1 and 2 for the two-week life of the platelets. This prevents them from sticking together or adhering to initiate a clot.
In hardening of the arteries or athero (artery) sclerosis (hardening), cholesterol plaques form irregularly on the insides of arteries. If one fractures or breaks apart, especially in coronary/heart arteries, platelets floating by in blood hit the ruptured plaque, start to adhere and form a clot or thrombus, which plugs the entire artery. Voila! A heart attack.
The sequence is thought to also occur in a brain artery to create a stroke, or a leg, etc., to cut off oxygen supply.
In many different tissues, blocking COX 1 and 2 enzymes prevents production of a whole diverse set of substances called prostaglandins, first discovered in prostate fluid, whence came the name. This results in intestinal tract functional disruption of a prostaglandin-induced protective coating of the lining. Without that, the low acidity burns and causes erosion and bleeding.
The benefit of less clotting in arteries must be balanced against the risk of intestinal bleeding. That makes for the recommendation to take a baby aspirin daily, 81 mg, instead of the standard two 325 mg pills (which makes you want to call your doctor in the morning?).
The effectiveness of aspirin in people with recognized rusty pipes is well established. It is not as clear a benefit in so-called low-risk groups.
The whole risk game seems to be counting up heart attack “risk factors” and predicting your chances of having one (almost like weather forecasting and equally reliable?).
One issue that has been found by experience is that stopping daily aspirin abruptly does increase your new platelets’ clotting and the risk of heart attack or stroke. When quitting aspirin before a surgical procedure, it is best to taper off a few weeks before.
So, for the right person on Valentine’s Day, the gift of aspirin may be just right, from the heart, to or for the heart, perhaps even your own heart.
I haven’t seen them packaged in a pretty red bottle. A missed marketing ploy, eh? Oh, and, if it’s not a problem, don’t forget the “heart healthy” glass of red wine and the piece or two of dark chocolate to help your heart throb even more healthfully.
