Download More Daily Aspirin Risks

More Daily Aspirin Risks
Daily Dose – June 29, 2012
Study confirms daily aspirin has more risks than benefits
Whatever happened to “First, do no harm”?
New numbers show the daily aspirin urged on everyone – the so-called “wonder drug”
that’s supposed to prevent heart attacks – actually hurts at least as many people as it
theoretically helps.
Yet the makeup-wearing TV docs are STILL pushing this drug on everyone over the
age of 40. I even saw one know-nothing on TV just the other day tell all men over 35
to start aspirin therapy!
Drug ‘em all and pretend you don’t know the risks – but they’re going to have a hard
time pretending now, because a major new study confirms the drug’s notorious
bleeding risk.
I don’t mean a little extra blood when you get a boo-boo. I’m talking about serious
internal bleeding in the gut and even in the brain – bleeds that can ruin your life, or
maybe even end it.
In the study of some 372,000 people, the risk of gastrointestinal bleeds shot up by 55
percent in “aspirin therapy” patients with a low risk of heart disease – leading to two
serious bleeds in every 1,000 patients taking the drug.
Coincidentally, that’s also the number of people “protected,” with just two heart events
prevented for every 1,000 people on aspirin therapy. And if those were the only
numbers to come out of this, then aspirin loses.
After all, the drug caused at least as many problems as it prevented.
But those aren’t the only numbers, because the study also found that aspirin increases
the risk of brain bleeds by 54 percent.
The study didn’t look at the other side effects, the supposedly more minor ones, but
there’s plenty of research on that already.
In addition to less serious but still troublesome bleeds, aspirin use has been linked to
tinnitus, hearing loss, vision problems, sexual dysfunction and more – and I believe it
can actually cause the very blood clots it’s supposed to prevent in some people.
That’s why even high-risk patients should skip the aspirin and use fish oil instead. All
the blood-thinning benefits with none of the risks.
For now, let’s get back to painkillers and the latest on acetaminophen. And no, it’s not
good news for painkiller users.
Page 2 – More Daily Aspirin Risks
Acetaminophen users face overdose risks
Headaches, toothaches, muscle aches, back pain, leg pain, wrist pain, neck pain,
arthritis pain – no matter what part of the body hurts, millions of people turn to
acetaminophen for relief.
How much do you need? Who cares! Just keep popping those pills until the pain goes
away.
The latest numbers show that up to 19 percent of us take this drug every day or at
least several times a week – and many have no idea how much they’re taking or even
how much they should take.
In a series of experiments, 25 percent of acetaminophen users showed themselves
perfectly capable of overdosing without realizing it – with five percent at risk of
exceeding the upper daily limit by 50 percent or more.
Some of these people don’t know how many different products contain acetaminophen
(it’s a lot more than you probably realize). Some just can’t handle the math. Others
just don’t care – they’ll pop as many pills as it takes to get the relief they’re looking for.
But there’s one part of your body that’s not getting any relief at all. It’s your liver, and it
practically hates you for taking this med – because a big-time acetaminophen habit is
even worse for your organ than a serious alcohol problem.
That’s why acetaminophen overdose is now the nation’s leading cause of acute liver
failure, responsible for thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of death every year.
This drug – the main ingredient in Tylenol and about a billion other over-the-counter
and prescription meds – has also been linked to heart problems, convulsions and
coma. One recent study even found that just four pills a week can double your risk of
lymphoma (a.k.a. blood cancer).
You don’t want to risk all that. You don’t have to risk all that. Pain has a cause – find
that cause and fix it instead, and stick to safer natural pain relievers in the meantime.
And, of course, don’t forget there’s my favorite go-to for just about ANY kind of ache
and pain and that’s Soothanol X2 from our affiliates over at NorthStar Nutritionals. Just
rub a few drops of this remarkable pain reliever where it hurts and the pain starts to
melt away in a matter of minutes.
Giving you just the right dose every time,
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.