Aspirin
has been around for over half a
century. It's primary and "original" use was for pain relief. But
when Tylenol and NSAIDs (such as Advil) took over the pain relief field, the
aspirin industry "bigwigs" pulled out the "big guns" and
went after: heart disease.
What
the heck, they figured. After all, a billion-dollar medicine has to go
somewhere. And like most businesses, you have to keep growing and finding new
"revenue streams" to increase revenue and profits. The
"big killer" of heart disease seemed like a natural avenue to go
down. So aspirin decided to
acquire "new
indications" as a blood-clot fighter and is already widely used to treat and
prevent strokes and heart attacks.
It
Didn't Work For Apples
Just
about every male I know over the age of 60 (including younger men) and many
women (BOTH my parents in fact)
are taking "an aspirin a day to
keep the doctor away." Well, it didn't work for apples and I don't
think it works for aspirin either. But that isn't stopping its promoters from
telling people it will do that and a whole lot more.
Crazy
Claims
Take
a quick look at some of the other claims the "Aspirin Institute" is
making about its product. The "Institute" strongly hints
("studies suggest that...") that this "miracle drug" cures,
decreases, alleviates, or prevents:
- Breast cancer
- Migraine headaches
- Hodgkin's disease Alzheimer's disease
- Prostate cancer
- Cancer of the pancreas
- Colon cancer Birth defects
- Leukemia Immune disorders, including
AIDS
And
that's just a partial list, But geez ... take a look at the last one - AIDS! Wow, if Aspirin really could do
that, it would be a "miracle" drug, right? ...
So
the "experts" seem to think that at least 95 percent of the
population needs aspirin on a daily basis. But the dangers associated with extensive use of aspirin are downright horrifying.
Aspirin
Does The Opposite
Researchers
have reported that aspirin might, in fact, increase your risk for stroke, heart attack, macular degeneration
(blindness), and cataract formation! You didn't hear anything about
these findings because no one reported on them in the popular press. So if you
don't read medical journals in your spare time, you probably missed these REAL
bits of news.
Here's
what the researchers have to say:
- 40% of people who regularly take large
doses of aspirin actually demonstrated an INCREASED risk of both stroke and heart attack.
- Regular aspirin users have a
significantly increased risk of macular
degeneration with blindness!
- Aspirin use also puts people at a 44% increased risk of cataracts.
Of
course, there's always the widely known increased
risk of gastrointestinal bleeding that accompanies aspirin too. And
these sorts of findings weren't published in some lowly rag. No, the highly
respected prestigious rags, like the British
Medical Journal, Lancet, and the Journal
of the American Medical Association, came to a similar conclusion: aspirin shows no benefit in the prevention of heart
attacks!
To
Be Continued ...
I
try my best to keep these articles short. But sometimes, especially with an
important topic that most everyone is familiar with - like Aspirin - I tend to
just keep on writing. Well, I'll stop for today since I don't want to overload
you with too much information at once.