51–60 of 88 posts
Disclaimer: A lot of his stuff is pretty out there, and some of it may be outright wrong. I don’t recommend following his advice, but a lot of his writing is at least interesting.
This has to be balanced against this news: "Daily low dose aspirin increases brain bleeding risk by 38% in older adults." See: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/low-dose-aspirin-r...
Yes, we need to see a long-term study of all cause mortality before recommending this intervention for primary prevention.
Focused on elderly, i think mostly started with subjects at 70? So depends on how 'long term' you mean. :)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am very skeptical about these side effect claims. Do you have hard data supporting this or doctor hearsay. Years ago I remember watching Charlie Rose Brain series where one of the professors said something like “ we know of two drugs that we are certain are very safe for human beings: alcohol and aspirin.”
> “ we know of two drugs that we are certain are very safe for human beings: alcohol and aspirin.” I am not sure I understand. We know alcohol isn’t safe, let alone very safe, in any quantity. So immediately this seems contradictory?
Tomorrow's news will say it will be a 20% increase in some other desease...
Aspirin is anti-inflammatory. A huge number of illnesses are caused or worsened by inflammation. Aspirin is likely to show benefit for a huge variety of conditions.
It's a complicated topic, biochemically / physiologically, however. Guidelines and recommendations have changed many times in the past couple of decades. With the scale of epidemiological data collection and specific studies carried out in recent years, conclusions are still rather "mixed".
There are many reasons to think, mechanistically, that aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) should come out "net positive" in its effects on human health. But, even some of the "prostaglandins", for example, can be important in endothelial function and health (in a positive way).
I will note that I haven't kept up with this topic much in at least 5 or so years, but, I can point to a couple of sources with some analysis / discussion that should be of use to most, I think:
https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/aspirin-making-sense-cha...
https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recomme...
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2791399
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-0...
I specifically remember concerns roughly 10+ years ago that some of the expected net benefits might, in fact, actually be net harms in the broader population - particularly for other NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), but, even, at some point not long thereafter, for "aspirin" as well. I may dig out that info if I get a chance to try to refresh, myself, and will comment again if / when I do.
I always think of Lewis Black's bit on this, though (while pointing out that this is the nature of science and its best to go with the best info available at any time, generally, IMO):
This has to be balanced against this news: "Daily low dose aspirin increases brain bleeding risk by 38% in older adults." See: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/low-dose-aspirin-r...
For the study, the researchers analyzed data from 19,114 adults with an average age of 74 years old.
Altogether, 1.1% of those taking aspirin (108 individuals) experienced intracranial bleeding, while the same was true for 0.8% of those taking a placebo (79 individuals).
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Which is worse?
I know which one I would rather die from. It isn’t cancer.
Probably more like lower inflammation reduces all cause mortality.
In a healthy fit human, inflammation is a good thing, it is the body's construction and maintenance crew. Chronic inflammation is not good, but that is a side effect of an underlying issue (in my understanding so far)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know which one I would rather die from. It isn’t cancer.
Well the worseness has to be counteracted by how likely it is. A 38% increase in something quite rare (brain bleeds) is nowhere near as impactful as a 20% reduction in cancer, which is much more common.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am very skeptical about these side effect claims. Do you have hard data supporting this or doctor hearsay. Years ago I remember watching Charlie Rose Brain series where one of the professors said something like “ we know of two drugs that we are certain are very safe for human beings: alcohol and aspirin.”
Anecdata: even a few days of low-dose aspirin causes me terrible GI pain and exacerbates an otherwise 30-year dormant ulcer. I would love to be able to take it, but I can't tolerate it at all.