Aspirin is one of the most widely used medications on the planet; it would be difficult to find a single house in North America that didn’t have aspirin, or the generic version of the drug, in the medicine cabinet at one time or another. There are many different uses for aspirin, some of the most common of which are for pain, inflammation, and fever. This article will consider some of the many uses of aspirin as well as situations in which you should avoid aspirin.
In addition to the conventional uses of aspirin for things like pain, fever, and inflammation, many doctors prescribe aspirin for other ailments, such as gout. Aspirin is also recommended for people who have severe redness and swelling due to arthritis. One of the more recent and important uses for aspirin has been for heart health and heart attack prevention. Aspirin helps reduce the chance of developing serious blood clots which means a reduced chance of heart attack or stroke. When taken for this purpose it must be taken daily in a very low dose, they even sell bottles of aspirin in deliberately small doses for this very purpose.
Another heart-related use for aspirin is by those who are having a heart attack. Chewing on an aspirin immediately after suffering a heart attack can be critical in keeping the victim alive long enough to get medical help. Interestingly even those who are at heart attack risk due to diabetes can significantly reduce their risk by taking aspirin, and the daily dosage of aspirin has also been shown to reduce the risks of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s. Daily doses will also help reduce the possibility of developing colon cancer, which is somewhat counterintuitive since Aspirin is known to be rather hard on the stomach.
Now that we’ve covered many of the wonderful uses of aspirin it’s time to consider some of the side effects. One possible downside to aspirin is that once you begin taking daily doses you must continue to do so or you’ll suffer a rebound effect and suddenly put yourself at a higher risk of clots when you stop. Also remember that aspirin can be hard on the stomach, when taken in large doses it can even cause gastrointestinal disorders and other serious problems.
It is not recommended to take any aspirin ten days before surgery for the effect it has on your blood, and for similar reasons it should not be mixed with blood thinning medication. Now that you are fairly well informed about the pros and cons of aspirin you can make an educated assessment of your aspirin needs and what kinds of questions to ask your doctor or health care practitioner.