It has long been a widely-held belief that a daily dose of simple aspirin might be just what the doctor ordered to prevent serious heart complications down the road. Problem is, a new study is saying that it actually doesn’t.

Now taking a low dose of aspirin has been proven to benefit those with narrow arteries, or even those who have recently suffered a heart attack. This assumed benefit has long reached over into the camp of regular folks without any cardiovascular disease to speak of – mild hypochondriacs we all know (or may ourselves be) who think a modest daily dosage might steer off future heart problems. Are they right in this assumption?

The study: data was compiled and analyzed from nine different studies involving over 100,000 adults clocking-in at an average age of 57. These adults were randomly assigned a low dose of aspirin (about 100 milligrams) while the rest were prescribed a garden variety placebo. None of those studied had existing heart conditions. Over six years, medical problems that arose included roughly 2,000 cases of coronary heart disease and 40,000 instances of bleeding. Over that same amount of time, deaths within the study related to cardiovascular complications were about the same for those on – or off – aspirin.

In the end, aspirin-takers had only about a 10% lower chance of a heart attack or stroke, though this figure is mostly attributed to a 20% lower chance for a fatal heart attack. No difference between men and women. Older folks seemed to benefit more than younger folks, BUT those taking aspirin had a 70% higher risk of bleeding problems, and serious bleeding issues were 30% higher among younger people.

The moral of the story – if you don’t have cardiovascular problems, don’t take aspirin, or you might bleed to death.

The end.

Do you take aspirin to head-off heart problems? You going to stop now?

Does Daily Aspirin Intake Prevent Heart Problems? Short Answer: No is a post from: The Inquisitr

A large-scale study by British researchers has revealed that a daily, low-dose aspirin regimen could slash the risk of cancer death by between ten and sixty percent.

The study included more than 25,000 patients and aimed to measure the impact of daily aspirin use on cardiovascular health. The “exciting and potentially findings” were published in the December 7th online edition of the medical journal The Lancet, where researchers were quoted as saying:

“Daily aspirin reduced deaths due to several common cancers during and after the trials… Benefit increased with duration of treatment and was consistent across the different study populations. These findings have implications for guidelines on use of aspirin and for understanding of carcinogenesis and its susceptibility to drug intervention.”

Dr. Alan Arslan, an assistant professor at New York University, said the findings were “very significant,” but cautioned patients to discuss an aspirin regimen with a doctor:

“The take-home message for patients is that if someone is taking low-dose or regular aspirin, it may put them at a reduced risk of death from cancer,” Arslan added. “However, if someone is not already taking aspirin they should talk with their physician before starting. Aspirin has risks of side effects, including bleeding and stroke.”

Daily aspirin could cut cancer risk dramatically is a post from: The Inquisitr

Not to make light of this obviously distressing malady but it’s got to really suck big time to suddenly lose your memory after making love. I am sure there are some who might suggest that this is a natural occurrence after a round of mediocre under the sheets nookie but the fact is that this is a real medical problem for some people.

In post on CNN Madison Park relates the tale of Alice and Scott who found that after a morning love-making session Alice had lost a part of her memory.

As they lay in bed, Scott (the couple asked that their last name not be used) flicked on the television, which was showing the Olympics. This perplexed Alice. “Is there an Olympics?” she asked. This was during the Michael Phelps mania, when the swimmer seemed to be everywhere.

“Are you sure there is an Olympics?” Alice asked again.

Scott recalled, “I saw that something was wrong, so I asked her, ‘OK what day is it?’ ”

Alice appeared even more perplexed.

“Who’s our president?” he quizzed.

“Bill Clinton,” she answered. This was 2008.

It turns out that Alice was suffering from what is called transient global amnesia (TGA) and while it doesn’t affect the memories of the person’s identity it does affect the patient’s ability to retain recent memories.

TGA can be triggered after the person afflicted has engaged in some sort of strenuous activity – which having sex would qualify, vigorous exercise, sudden immersion into hot or icy water, or even a bump on the head.

In the case of Alice it took the doctors several hours of examining and testing her before arriving at the diagnosis of TGA. It turns out as well that TGAs can be precipitated by migraines and headaches. As well  TGA are listed as one possible side effect of taking Levitra, a pill for helping with erectile dysfunction.

Alice did recover from her bout of amnesia but she still can’t remember what happened that morning only that the night before she had gone to be with a headache. Other than that life has returned to normal for Alice and Scott with the exception that no more sex for Scott if his wife feels a headache coming on.

Sex induced amnesia is a post from: The Inquisitr