Aspirin use

[hierundjetzt]

There was an article published in the ESC Heart Failure in November 2021 putting some negative light on aspirin use, just in case somebody did not see it. Maybe worthwhile to discuss.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ehf2.13688

 

[OliviaD]

There was an article published in the ESC Heart Failure in November 2021 putting some negative light on aspirin use, just in case somebody did not see it. Maybe worthwhile to discuss.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ehf2.13688

No takers here, I was surprised, but I am new to this forum.
I scanned this very quickly, but this is another study (of which I see SO many now) that gets a sweeping dramatic conclusion based on nothing.
It was a retrospective study that looked a several other studies of people were seen for some heart related treatment. Since the info is coming from different studies, they likely had different design and parameters. The aspirin use was based on SELF REPORT and as far as I can see, there were 2 categories. Aspirin USED or NOT USED. There was no information on how this was asked, or what determined "use" - i.e. one time, every day for 6 years; etc. etc. No information on dose. In other words, this study is meaningless. They did some states to show an increase in heart failure correlating with people who reported they used aspirin at all apparently. And obviously who knows what else was going on.

The conclusion I draw from this study is that 'someone' wants to shed a negative light on aspirin.

 

[hierundjetzt]

No takers here, I was surprised, but I am new to this forum.
I scanned this very quickly, but this is another study (of which I see SO many now) that gets a sweeping dramatic conclusion based on nothing.
It was a retrospective study that looked a several other studies of people were seen for some heart related treatment. Since the info is coming from different studies, they likely had different design and parameters. The aspirin use was based on SELF REPORT and as far as I can see, there were 2 categories. Aspirin USED or NOT USED. There was no information on how this was asked, or what determined "use" - i.e. one time, every day for 6 years; etc. etc. No information on dose. In other words, this study is meaningless. They did some states to show an increase in heart failure correlating with people who reported they used aspirin at all apparently. And obviously who knows what else was going on.

The conclusion I draw from this study is that 'someone' wants to shed a negative light on aspirin.

Yes, it's very likely that somebody wanted to shed bad light on aspirin. I'm not in the medical field, so for me it's not easy to tell.

Anecdotally I can state that I have taken for 1 year aspirin on a daily basis (usually 325 mg, but often up to 1 gram) and I only have positive effects from it (in my case I have some unknown inflammation in the lungs and aspirin really helps with that as well as better sleep). So, for me the study is questionable.

 

[OliviaD]

Yes, it's very likely that somebody wanted to shed bad light on aspirin. I'm not in the medical field, so for me it's not easy to tell.

Anecdotally I can state that I have taken for 1 year aspirin on a daily basis (usually 325 mg, but often up to 1 gram) and I only have positive effects from it (in my case I have some unknown inflammation in the lungs and aspirin really helps with that as well as better sleep). So, for me the study is questionable.

I've worked at a University doing research and teaching in an Exercise Science dept, and when I was in graduate school in medicine/science related fields learning how to read and write papers was a big part of my training. It is very useful because there are many basic things with the study design, etc. that I can pick up on even if it is not in an area I am real familiar with.

This was a bad study - well, more correctly; it was bad science for them to make the conclusion they did - I think someone family would pick up on this.. but a layperson might thing that they are saying Aspirin causes heart failure. You have to read the titles carefully. They say: Aspirin is "associated with". That doesn't mean anything, 2 things both happening don't mean one causes the other. This study was appropriate as a pilot study - they could say "we see more aspirin use with patients with heart failure, therefore this should be looked into further". That would be an appropriate statement.

That is great that the aspirin is helping you, and it would make sense for something like your problem. Also interesting that you have better sleep. Although maybe because you are feeling better? I have recently learned about Dr. Peat's love of aspirin. I'm not sure yet if I want to include it or not. I have a very sensitive GI tract, so I'm sure. I also like to make one change at a time if I can (or at least as few as possible, so I can tell what is working. If I did have something where I needed some pain relief other than my gut, I would use aspirin at least acutely for that.

I think in the U.S. where I live it is discouraged because the pharmaceutical companies could make more expensive drugs to use for pain relief, so they don't want people using cheap aspirin.

Until recently, it was actually recommended for people at risk for strokes and heart disease at a low dose, I think 78 mg . At it was also used as an anti-coagulant. It is really criminal, b/c it works very well for that, but the drug companies make more expensive drugs for that. Pfizer (interestingly) has a new one, called Eliquis. It has a lot of reported side effects. My mom was on aspirin and and older anti-coagulant and they took her off of those to give her the more expensive new drug. The old ones were working fine.

I think aspirin is a lot less harmful than most drugs, so if it is helping you.. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Matestube]

Yes, it's very likely that somebody wanted to shed bad light on aspirin. I'm not in the medical field, so for me it's not easy to tell.

Anecdotally I can state that I have taken for 1 year aspirin on a daily basis (usually 325 mg, but often up to 1 gram) and I only have positive effects from it (in my case I have some unknown inflammation in the lungs and aspirin really helps with that as well as better sleep). So, for me the study is questionable.

What other improvements have you had from aspirin:
Better mood ?
Better cognitive function ?

I still haven't pulled the trigger on aspirin after reading on it for 4 years, in fear of permanent tinnitus and internal bleeding.

 

[hierundjetzt]

I've worked at a University doing research and teaching in an Exercise Science dept, and when I was in graduate school in medicine/science related fields learning how to read and write papers was a big part of my training. It is very useful because there are many basic things with the study design, etc. that I can pick up on even if it is not in an area I am real familiar with.

This was a bad study - well, more correctly; it was bad science for them to make the conclusion they did - I think someone family would pick up on this.. but a layperson might thing that they are saying Aspirin causes heart failure. You have to read the titles carefully. They say: Aspirin is "associated with". That doesn't mean anything, 2 things both happening don't mean one causes the other. This study was appropriate as a pilot study - they could say "we see more aspirin use with patients with heart failure, therefore this should be looked into further". That would be an appropriate statement.

That is great that the aspirin is helping you, and it would make sense for something like your problem. Also interesting that you have better sleep. Although maybe because you are feeling better? I have recently learned about Dr. Peat's love of aspirin. I'm not sure yet if I want to include it or not. I have a very sensitive GI tract, so I'm sure. I also like to make one change at a time if I can (or at least as few as possible, so I can tell what is working. If I did have something where I needed some pain relief other than my gut, I would use aspirin at least acutely for that.

I think in the U.S. where I live it is discouraged because the pharmaceutical companies could make more expensive drugs to use for pain relief, so they don't want people using cheap aspirin.

Until recently, it was actually recommended for people at risk for strokes and heart disease at a low dose, I think 78 mg . At it was also used as an anti-coagulant. It is really criminal, b/c it works very well for that, but the drug companies make more expensive drugs for that. Pfizer (interestingly) has a new one, called Eliquis. It has a lot of reported side effects. My mom was on aspirin and and older anti-coagulant and they took her off of those to give her the more expensive new drug. The old ones were working fine.

I think aspirin is a lot less harmful than most drugs, so if it is helping you.. I wouldn't worry about it.

I think in my case it makes me sleep better because it reduces the inflammation in the body which apparently was affecting my rest.

I too could not take aspirin at the beginning for more than 2 or 3 days because it would damage my stomach lining. Then I read a study which basically says if you take the same amount of vitamin c with aspirin, the vitamin c somehow changes something temporarily in the stomach's lining. Since then no more problems. Try that if you need to take aspirin for some reason. That is also why here in Europe Bayer sells an aspirin product combined with vit c for people with sensitive stomachs.

 

[hierundjetzt]

What other improvements have you had from aspirin:
Better mood ?
Better cognitive function ?

I still haven't pulled the trigger on aspirin after reading on it for 4 years, in fear of permanent tinnitus and internal bleeding.

I did not notice better mood ot cognitive function. I would only take it if you had some inflammatory or pain condition. It probably won't cure it, but it works on the symptoms for sure. In the meantime I have stopped taking it because I'm feeling better. But it is always part of my arsenal.
With regard to bleeding, just follow ray peat's suggestion of taking vitamin k2 to prevent that, especially if taking for longer periods. With regard to tinnitus, I didn't notice anything.

 

[Ben.]

I still haven't pulled the trigger on aspirin after reading on it for 4 years, in fear of permanent tinnitus and internal bleeding.

Same. Especially since i suffer from tinnitus for ca. 6 years now. I went what the hell last week and its effects are very good (altough shortlived). Tinnitus gets surprsingly more silent tho which i found odd but it's a welcome effect indeed.

 

[theordinarydude]

I think in my case it makes me sleep better because it reduces the inflammation in the body which apparently was affecting my rest.

I too could not take aspirin at the beginning for more than 2 or 3 days because it would damage my stomach lining. Then I read a study which basically says if you take the same amount of vitamin c with aspirin, the vitamin c somehow changes something temporarily in the stomach's lining. Since then no more problems. Try that if you need to take aspirin for some reason. That is also why here in Europe Bayer sells an aspirin product combined with vit c for people with sensitive stomachs.

How does one know if they are experiencing damage with their stomach lining ?

 

[OliviaD]

How does one know if they are experiencing damage with their stomach lining ?

I have to assume one would only know b/c they are having pain or bleeding. However, especially the latter might not happen until there is significant damage. I'm not sure about the actual incidence of 'damage' with aspirin, although there are probably some here who know. i.e I think it is irritating for some people, but i'm not sure if it has been linked with actual 'damage' - i.e. ulcers. I think people were told that in the past. Would appreciate anyone's info on this.

 

[Meta]

I’ve had an ulcer in the past but I still take 325mg aspirin with baking soda and glycine every other day. If it reduces the chance of something life threatening then to me it’s worth the risk, which to my understanding is minimised with baking soda and using alka seltzer

 

[David PS]

Association of mortality and aspirin use for COVID-19 residents at VA Community Living Center Nursing Homes

Aspirin use among nursing home residents was associated with a 33-40% lower risk of mortality from Covid.

 

[Osukhan]

what are your thoughts on white willow bark? some say that is all the benefits without the downsides , such as gut irritation
I also have no problems taking a regular aspirin, but was wondering if there was more benefit to the herb