14 DAY TRIAL // Aspirin is a naturally occurring chemical found in the willow bark (in fact, its chemical name, acetylsalicylic acid, comes from "Salix", willow in Latin), whose properties were known for centuries by South American Indians.
It is present in a lot of drugs sold without prescription and its use is increasingly growing.
It is an analgesic employed against pain (including inflammatory ones) and fever.
It is said that regular consume of aspirin can save your life.
Many researchers reached the conclusion that if there is no aspirin allergy, almost any person who has experienced a heart attack or a stroke, who suffers from angina pectoris or passed through a by-pass operation of the coronary artery should take daily a half to an entire aspirin tablet.
Aspirin is recommended for people suffering from coronary disease, with necked carotid arteries, who experienced thrombosis (blood clots) or a transitory ischemic attack (a short episode similar to a stroke).
Others sustain that aspirin is beneficial for men and women over 50 prone to heart attack due to smoking, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol level, low level of HDL (good) cholesterol, severe obesity, alcoholism, genetic predisposition to early heart attack or stroke, sedentary life style.
Some researches show that daily intake of aspirin decreases the risk of colon cancer and large doses taken over long periods can contribute to the glycemia decrease in diabetics.
How does the aspirin act?
Some researches show that it acts on the blood platelets making them less sticky, impeding this way the formation of clots. This impedes the blocking of small arteries going to the heart and brain. But many things are still unknown, like what is the ideal aspirin dose. And even the advantages brought by tamponed tablets are still questioned.
With all its natural character, aspirin has a lot of secondary effects. Many persons are allergic to aspirin. In some people, it can provoke severe gastrointestinal (stomach and gut) bleeding.
At the beginning, the bleeding can be weak, unobservable, but in time it can become abundant. Aspirin is also not recommended for pregnant women, and recent researches showed it can change a baby's sexual behavior later in life due to interference with the embryo's hormones...
Other researches found it useful in helping pregnancy installation due to its anti-coagulant and anti-inflammatory role.