by Dave Hughes

Created on: August 24, 2009   Last Updated: August 28, 2009

Lately aspirin has experienced a revival of sorts. Recent medical findings indicate that aspirin taken in low doses helps prevent heart attacks in certain high-risk individuals and that its blood-thinning properties may reduce the risk of stroke.

The recent impetus toward determining the true medicinal properties of plants and their extracts spawned research into aspirin. A household staple, aspirin comes primarily from the bark of the white willow. Tea made from the bark drew cross-cultural attention eons ago as a cure for minor pains, and many other claims concerning its medical benefits prompted scientists to take a thorough look at its capabilities.

Aspirin's benefit to those at high risk for heart attack or stroke comes from the fact that it is a potent blood thinner.

During a heart attack and in some kinds of stroke, the flow of blood is reduced or blocked to the point that oxygen cannot reach the organs dependent on a steady supply to survive. As the blood flow diminishes, clots begin to form, exacerbating the problem.

Aspirin thins the blood, which allows the circulation to improve immediately, bringing oxygen to those organs that sustain life. The heart muscle, falling victim to its own sluggishness, regains its vigor. Regions of the brain deprived of blood by blockage that may be the cause of the stroke once again become oxygenated, helping to reduce the level of permanent damage that can prove so debilitating to a patient.

The American Heart Association recommends aspirin for both heart attack and stroke:

The American Heart Association recommends aspirin use for patients who've had a myocardial infarction (heart attack), unstable angina, ischemic stroke (caused by blood clot) or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs or "little strokes"), if not contraindicated. This recommendation is based on sound evidence from clinical trials showing that aspirin helps prevent the recurrence of such events as heart attack, hospitalization for recurrent angina, second strokes, etc. (secondary prevention). Studies show aspirin also helps prevent these events from occurring in people at high risk (primary prevention).

- www.americanheart.org

The decision to take aspirin on a regular basis must not be made lightly. Although the drug's reputation as a pain remedy and its omnipresence in household medicine chests bespeak of its safe effectiveness against mild headaches and such, as a blood thinner, aspirin inhabits a completely different and much more sensitive category; that of

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>