Aspirin Dosage?

Many people have told me that I should take one aspirin a day to possibly prevent a future heart attack.

Half of those people suggest a baby aspirin a day.

Any thoughts on this subject?

I am a 56 year old male in relatively good shape.

How many mg's is 5omg?

Bayer Entec Encoated 81mg is fine if you have no prior condition. However,
160 mg to 325 mg if you do have a prior condition. If worried about stomach bleeding, take either 81mg or 2 of them, for 162 mg.

Chung has changed the prescription. He argued rather vociferously that
325mg was *it* and that's all there was to it. <http://tinyurl.com/yuz6u>. Chung kept insisting that less than 325mg gave less protection.

The paper I cited <http://tinyurl.com/x1kz> said:

Seems like chung's medical advice has slyly changed. Different dosage since January.

They certainly are. More embarrassment for Chung.

Here's some new info about the whole question from a study published by the American Academy of Family Physicians about aspirin dosages for carotid Endarterectomy that also tracked MI figures. Says that no differences between 81mg and 325mg, and that more than 325mg results in increased mortality.
<http://www.aafp.org/afp/991115ap/tips/26.html>
"Because no significant differences were noted between the two lower aspirin dosages (81 mg and 325 mg) and the two higher dosages (650 mg and 1,300 mg), the authors reported the results in these two groups.
Efficacy analysis of 1,116 patients revealed that stroke occurred in
18 (3.2 percent) of those receiving low-dose aspirin and in 38 (6.9 percent) of those receiving high-dose aspirin. Myocardial infarction was also less frequent in the low-dose group (five patients, or 0.9 percent, versus 18 patients, or 3.3 percent). The mortality rate was
1.6 percent in the patients who received low-dose aspirin, compared with a mortality rate of 2.2 percent in those who received high-dose aspirin."

Here's another one, this meta-analysis from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy in 2003. <http://www.uic.edu/pharmacy/services/di/ ASAmetaanalysis.htm>
"The optimal starting dose of aspirin for primary prevention is unclear; however, doses of 75 mg/day appear to be as effective as higher doses."

Here's a PubMed abstract that looked at 100mg for acute MI patients and said it was effective. <http://tinyurl.com/35ezd>
"However, early low-dose aspirin effectively decreased the risk of reinfarction. Therefore, the favor able results of early aspirin on mortality in acute myocardial infarction are probably due more to prevention of reinfarction than to decrease of infarct size."

Yes, there sure seems to be some debate on the dosage. I have cardiovascular disease and had a heart bypass in December.

My doctor told me to take 81 mg of aspirin daily. I asked him about more, possibly 81 mg in the AM and another 81 mg in the PM. He said, no, that makes it worse.

So, I'm taking 81 mg every day. I take the enteric coated so I believe this bypasses any stomach problems.

I know people whose doctors have told them to take 325 mg daily who have had bypass surgery. Don't know why there is such a discrepancy, but would welcome comments on the subject.

Dual 81s, I say!

What about using Aloe Vera juice to counter bleeding? What it does in burn clinics to help heal damaged tissue is amazing.

If you have any risk factors such as smoking, obesity, high BP, high cholesterol, or history of heart attacks in your family I would do that, but it is a personal choice. Aspirin does cause an increased risk of stomach bleeding and, probably, a type of stroke. As far as dosage, there is some debate.

You may wish to discuss this with your Dr.

Here is a link if you wish to explore further.
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/136/2/161? ijkey=9929b9660e6a953fea59a6a92514cba4f0d7ad2c&amp; keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

or
http://tinyurl.com/2v7fu

Bill - not a Dr.

Understood and agreed, with normal people. It's the steadfastness that
Chung offered that makes it so funny. The absolute insistence, the
100% argument, the uniqueness of his notion. So typically Chung in his insistence that only he knows THE TRUTH and then, a couple months later it's not just a different song, but the very one that was being played to him that he so fiercely and illogically argued against.

Right. I imply I'm a doctor <LOLOL> in Chung's fevered dreams...

Poor Chung. <LOL> His dictionary came with crayons and little pictures of Winnie the Pooh. I'm not any kind of doctor, never played one on tv.

Since when does one have to be a doctor to recognize when a doctor pretends to have knowledge he clearly doesn't have? Chung pretends to know enough about the subject of psychiatry and the people who post here to "diagnose" their psychological conditions, almost certainly to their detriment, and only when they disagree with him and always hung with a negative. <LOL>

Pretending to know something you don't is quackery. Chung does it all the time. He qualifies with no help from me. I especially love how he characterizes me as calling doctors quacks as though it were a common event. In fact, Chung is the only one I've ever so characterized. He's unique in that regard.

I also love how demonstrating that Chung is faking is somehow having a weird obsession to call doctors quacks. Those plurals just make
Chung's integrity shine. <LOL> Only one doctor has earned the coveted
Bob's Gold Medal of Unalloyed Quackery... <applause sign lights up and crowd offers polite clapping> It's Doctor Chung!!!

Thanks for all your input people. It is much appreciated.

Man, there are a couple of weirdo doctors here, huh?

Most studies I've read put no further benefit beyong 5omg, thus the populairty of the 81mg baby aspirin. A "normal" aspirin has 325mg I believe.