An Aspirin a Day - No!

Just in from my email!

Know someone who's still singing the misguided praises of an aspirin a day to keep the heart attack away (like, say, the American Heart Association...)?

You'll probably want to forward this to them immediately.

Because, try as they might to ignore it, the evidence is really piling up. The second study this year has shown that an aspirin a day could have absolutely no benefit. Yep, that's right--none.

The latest study is a meta-analysis of diabetic patients (published online in BMJ). In it, researchers found absolutely no statistically significant differences in the risk of major cardiovascular events or mortality between patients who were taking a daily aspirin and patients who weren't. They also found "inconsistent" evidence of harm from aspirin use. An accompanying editorial warned against recommending treatments without supporting evidence. Seems pretty obvious to me.

Earlier this year, the Lancet published a similar analysis questioning the use of aspirin for heart event prevention. And the mainstream let it quietly slip through the cracks. But the evidence is getting pretty hard to ignore.

Even CNN has gotten on board, with an article exclaiming that the risks of daily aspirin therapy may outweigh the benefits. Of course, the American Heart Association hasn't updated their recommendations--or even acknowledged any of this research at all.

It's a shame, really--all those mainstreamers falling in line without even knowing if their exalted therapy really works. All of those trusting patients, putting their health on the line...for nothing.

I mean, we're talking serious dangers here. We've all known for a long time about the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. But there's more. I told you back in May about the dangers of brain "microbleeds" associated with aspirin ("Yet more bleeding risk associated with aspirin," 5/18/09).

These microbleeds are connected with decreased brain function, hemorrhage, and a host of diseases including Alzheimer's. Back then, "experts" proclaimed that this new finding shouldn't change anything--that the benefits of daily aspirin therapy far outweigh the risks.

And now we find there could be absolutely no benefit at all. Amazing.

So what does Dr. Wright recommend for actually protecting your heart? His seal of approval goes to good old fish oil. It does a literal "lube job" on your platelets, so they can't stick together. It also reduces the risk of sudden cardiac death, reduces abnormally high triglycerides, increases HDL ("good") cholesterol and decreases abnormally high levels of fibrinogen (another independent cardiovascular risk factor), and reduces your risk of "re-stenosis" (re-clogging) of your coronary arteries.

He recommends at least 1 tablespoon of fish oil every day--if your cardiovascular risk is elevated, 1 tablespoon twice daily. Cod liver oil is best, since it also supplies a substantial amount of vitamin D. Don't forget to take 400 IU of vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) daily for each tablespoonful of fish oil. And make sure that the brand of fish oil you use has no heavy metals, especially mercury, and is free of other toxins.

The American Heart Association may be turning a blind eye, but the American Diabetes Association plans to readjust their guidelines--they're going to recommend a daily aspirin to only the highest risk patients.