5 truths about aspirin

5 truths about aspirin

Acetylsalicylic acid has many medical applications, but also many side effects. Zoom on this double-edged medicine.




A maligned analgesic
If, to relieve our daily pains, doctors prefer paracetamol, it is because it offers a benefit / risk ratio much more advantageous. Aspirin can cause stomach pains and skin reactions. Its enzymes, very aggressive, alter the defense mechanisms of the digestive mucosa. It also often causes ulcers, when taken over time. Finally, it sometimes causes gastric bleeding.

She (still) has a say against infarction
Because it thins the blood and prevents clot formation, even a small dose of aspirin can lower the likelihood of recurrent infarction or stroke. For the same reason, it is beneficial in case of family history in this area. But we must weigh the pros and cons and prescribe only when the benefits exceed the complications it can cause.

A preventive role more and more contested
To protect yourself from stroke and other heart problems, do you take aspirin every day? A miscalculation if we believe the results of many scientific protocols, including the Arrive and Ascend works published in 2015. When we are not predisposed by heredity and healthy, it has not interest and may, on the contrary, be dangerous. The moderate protective role of aspirin is more than offset by a high probability of severe bleeding.



A possible anti-cancer weapon
With its powerful anti-inflammatory effects (inflammation is often the focus that promotes the emergence of tumors), aspirin reduces the potential to develop various cancers, such as colorectal cancer. Since 2015, the UK Institute for Cancer Research has launched a trial - Add-Aspirin Phase III - on a very large scale, out of 11,000 patients already treated for breast cancer, esophagus, intestine, prostate or stomach. Conducted over twelve years, it will tell to what extent aspirin prevents relapse.

The best enemy of surgeons!

Always because it promotes hemorrhaging, surgeons and dentists usually ask their patients to stop aspirin a few days before surgery. It will nevertheless be maintained in certain cases: if one is subject to thrombosis or hyper-coagulation of the blood, as is found for example in certain renal diseases such as nephrotic syndrome.