Aspirin to Prevent Heart Attacks
My mentor at Harvard frequently told me "I don't want to make leaky vessels leakier." This was 15 years ago.
What he meant - as we age we have more inflammation and infection. These 2 processes weaken the tissue of our blood vessels and makes bleeding happen more easily. Clearly we don't want that anywhere in the body.
A simple test is to floss your teeth. Do they bleed easily or do you get some "pink" on your floss? You have leaky vessels - at least in your gums and maybe elsewhere too.
Here is some background:
Since the 1970s, cardiologists have been recommending a daily low-dose or baby aspirin as a preventive measure against heart attacks or strokes. It was even claimed that daily aspirin therapy could lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by as much as 10 percent.
Now the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association have issued a “revised” position on aspirin therapy, stating:
"Aspirin should be used infrequently in the routine primary prevention of ASCVD (atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk) because of lack of net benefit."
The reasoning behind aspirin therapy was that aspirin blocks your blood’s ability to clot…and clots are the culprits behind heart attacks and strokes.
However, you need to clot - and clot well. A hemorrhagic stroke is when a vessel develops a leak and blood escapes - like when you floss your teeth and see a little blood. But the blood stops shortly due to clotting.
The New England Journal of Medicine is the top medical journal. At the link below, an article in NEJM concludes the following about daily low-dose aspirin:
Aspirin provides no tangible health benefits.
Aspirin increases risk of hemorrhage.
Aspirin increases ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1800722
Aspirin is a corrosive material and can impact your gut lining, kidney and liver. Consider doing an herbal detox, take some milk thistle, choline (found in egg yolks), vitamin C, and trace minerals if you are on daily aspirin.
Taking the modern anti-coagulants is not a good alternative to aspirin. For example, the famous golfer, Arnold Palmer, died on the operating table because the surgeons couldn't control his bleeding. He was on Xarelto. Curiously, he was also a spokesperson for Xarelto.
Go anti-inflammatory as a solution to heart health issues. Concentrate on real foods like fresh vegetables, fresh fruit in moderation (1 serving a day), meats, poultry, fish, eggs, olive oil, coconut oil and real butter (never, EVER margarine).
Fish and fish oils are the most important food and supplements. Fish oil reduces inflammation and improves blood flow without the side effects of aspirin. More importantly, high consumption of fish and fish oil will lead to improved blood markers including C-reactive protein, sedimentation rates, fasting insulin, fibrinogen activity, and white blood cell counts.
Along with fish, quality meats, and lots of healthy vegetables, avoid refined sugars and starchy carbs, and all processed foods. Sugars and starchy carbs such as breads, pasta, rice and crackers (even if they’re whole grain) can create surges of glucose in your bloodstream, signaling your pancreas to secrete insulin. Over time this can set the stage for insulin resistance, and high levels of glucose and insulin your blood, which stirs up inflammation.
Health is all about the little things - start with some of these simple suggestions - but be consistent and persistent.
Be Well...
