Bad science and profit motive is responsible for the spate of television advertising telling us that aspirin can save you from a heart attack. The studies have more holes than my helicopter I was shot down in during the Vietnam War.

First off, we do not get heart attacks because we do not have enough aspirin in our blood stream. We get heart attacks because we lack proper nutrition and proper lifestyles thus causing us to be hypercoagulable not to mention the inflammations in our blood streams adding to this condition.

The aspirin studies were done using “buffered” aspirin. When plain aspirin was used, the results were not the same; plain aspirin alone was almost as worthless as shoe polish in preventing heart attacks. One of the main ingredients in buffered aspirin is magnesium. We get heart attacks because we do not have enough magnesium in our blood stream. Magnesium dilates blood vessels, aids potassium absorption, acts as a natural blood thinner, and keeps your blood cells from clumping together causing thrombosis (clotting).

Autopsies of people who have died from heart attacks show that their bodies are lacking in magnesium, not aspirin.

Daily aspirin use is dangerous. Their own studies proved the dangers of aspirin use. Strokes due to hemorrhaging (hemorrhagic strokes) were up significantly in all studies.

Randomized clinical trials testing aspirin in 5011 elderly people, 58% of whom were women, mean age 72 years, followed for a mean of 4.2 years, showed that use of aspirin caused a 4-fold increase in hemorrhagic stroke (P=0.003) and a 1.6- to 1.8-fold increase in ischemic stroke. [R. A. Kronmal et al., Stroke 29, 887-894 (1998)]

All the studies showed increases in gastrointestinal disorders and allergic reactions. Using aspirin over a period of time can lead to internal bleeding, stomach ulcers, kidney dysfunction, and death.

From the Associated Press in 1999, death by analgesics (over the counter pain killers such as aspirin and NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) is the 15th most common cause of death in America. The silent epidemic, the author called it.

And then there is Reye’s syndrome and allergic reactions to aspirin: 1,600 children die each year from allergic reactions to aspirin.

From the World Chiropractic Alliance (Feb 1999) we get:

Patients with blockage of arteries to the brain are three times more likely to have a stroke if they are taking aspirin; dyspepsia and gastrointestinal hemorrhage occur in 31% of those taking 300 mg of aspirin per day; even low doses of aspirin can increase the risk of brain hemorrhage; other side effects can include anemia, bleeding ulcers, confusion and dizziness and numerous other problems.

Is there any doubt that aspirin is a drug? It has its place in medicine, but not in long term use.