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Author: Jane Kilian, M.D.
Clinic: Como/Roseville Clinic

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It's always a good time to think about the health of your heart. There are many ways to keep your heart healthy. For now, let's talk about aspirin.

 

     New recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggest that almost everyone over the age of 40 should be taking an aspirin a day to reduce their risk of heart attacks or strokes.

 

     Heart attacks occur when blood supply to the heart muscle is cut off. Strokes are similar, occurring when the blood flow to the brain is interrupted. Blood clots can be the culprits in either a heart attack or a stroke.

 

     Everyone has had the experience of cutting themselves, bleeding for a short time, and then seeing a scab form, which stops the bleeding. There are many steps in a chain of reactions that must occur in our bodies in order for us to clot properly. Problems at any point in the chain can cause disorders which can make people bleed either to much (hemophilia, Von Willebrand's disorder) or clot too much (Factor V Leiden deficiency).

 

     Some of the players in the clotting process are components in your blood called platelets. Platelets are some of the first cells that show up when there is an accident that needs repair in a blood vessel. Platelets pile up, helping seal off a bleeding vessel. This is a good thing if you want to stop bleeding, but a bad thing if the platelets start piling up in an important vessel in your heart, lungs, or brain. Aspirin makes the platelets less sticky than usual, so it is more difficult for platelets to make a clot. Reduced clotting can mean reduced risk of heart attack or stroke.

 

      Aspirin comes in many forms: pills, coated pills, capsules, gum, and chewable tablets. There is no reason to buy expensive brand name aspirin.

 

 The suggested dose of aspirin is either an 81 mg tablet or 325 mg tablet. Side effects from taking aspirin are hemorrhage, allergic reaction, or bleeding in your stomach or intestines, which is worsened by drinking alcohol. If the aspirin is coated or marked 'EC2 it is less likely to cause stomach upset.

 

     However, not everyone over 40 should take an aspirin. Anyone on coumadin or another blood thinner does not need aspirin. People with a clotting disorder, an allergy to aspirin, or a history of stomach or intestinal bleeding should not take aspirin. Children and adolescents should not take aspirin if they have a fever. Aspirin does not replace any medicine you might be taking to improve your cholesterol or blood pressure, nor does it change the need for you to care for your heart in other ways (exercise, low-fat diet, no smoking, minimal alcohol use). If you are wondering if you should have a daily aspirin, talk with your doctor.

 

      Be kind to your heart! It's the only one you've got.