Aspirin

Aspirin treats and prevents heart attacks, strokes and angina. It also reduces pain, fever and inflammation. This medication contains aspirin, an anti-inflammatory, and an antiplatelet drug - a blood thinner at low doses and a painkiller at high doses. Your doctor might prescribe it for inflammation, fever and the prevention of blood clots.

Aspirin should be taken as advised by your doctor. It is best to take them as a whole before or after food. Depending on the condition, your doctor might adjust the doses to make it act like an anti-inflammatory or an antiplatelet medicine. Follow your doctor's prescription for the best results.

Side effects of Aspirin include nausea, vomiting, heartburn, stomach pain and heartburn. They typically last for a short period and usually go away on their own. Contact your doctor if the problems persist.

Aspirin is contraindicated (unsafe) for people with bleeding disorders, asthma and hypersensitivity to aspirin. Always let your doctor know of any health conditions you might have. Generally, this medication is considered safe for most people.

Aspirin is used to treat and prevent myocardial infarctions (heart attacks), angina (heart-related severe chest pain) and strokes. It is also used for headaches, joint pain, muscle pain, dysmenorrhoea (menstrual cramps), backache, gout, rheumatic fever, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

The main ingredient of Aspirin is aspirin, aka salicylic acid. It is an anti-inflammatory (reduces inflammation and swelling), antiplatelet (removes blood clots and prevents heart attacks and strokes), analgesic (relieves pain) and an antipyretic drug (reduces fever).

This medicine's effect is dose-dependent; at lower doses, it is used as a blood thinner (for heart attacks), and at higher amounts, it works similarly to paracetamol by lowering pain and fever.

Aspirin helps people with joint and muscle pain by reducing pain and inflammation, allowing them to carry out day-to-day tasks without an aching body getting in their way. This medication, however, is used mainly as a preventive measure for heart attacks and strokes.

Aspirin contains aspirin, which stops platelets in your blood from sticking together. It partially treats and prevents heart attacks, strokes and angina (severe chest pain). It also lowers pain and inflammation by blocking an enzyme called cyclooxygenase.

Aspirin is anti-inflammatory (reduces inflammation and swelling), antiplatelet (removes blood clots and prevents heart attacks and strokes), analgesic (relieves pain) and an antipyretic drug (reduces fever).

Its anti-inflammatory properties are due to its ability to prevent the formation of a chemical called prostaglandin. This is done by inhibiting an enzyme called cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). The decrease in prostaglandins synthesis at the thermoregulatory centres (hypothalamus) and peripheral target sites results in the desensitisation of pain receptors. The inhibition of COX-2 also produces anti-inflammatory effects on the tissue level.

Its antiplatelet properties are granted by its ability to non-selectively inhibit cyclo-oxygenase-1 (COX-1), associated with the inhibition/blocking of platelet aggregation (blood cells sticking together).

This inhibition allows the medication to prevent heart attacks and strokes since they occur due to blood being unable to flow freely through the blood vessels. And this obstruction of the blood flow is usually caused by a clot formed by platelets. Aspirin prevents such clots by blocking the grouping of these platelets.

Thus, aspirin can both reduce pain and fever (by inhibiting COX 2) as well as prevent heart attacks, strokes and angina (by inhibiting COX 1 and preventing platelet aggregation).

• Aspirin: a brief overview (medlineplus.gov)
• Salicylic Acid (Aspirin) (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
• Philip Anderson - Handbook of Clinical Drug Data-McGraw-Hill Medical