How to Protect Your Heart With Aspirin
Your heart is the pump that beats around the clock sending oxygenated blood throughout your body. Your heart keeps you alive. For years, many cardiologists have recommended taking aspirin to help keep the blood flowing through your heart free of clots. However, there has been considerable debate over the dosing, when to start the aspirin therapy and who should be on it. In March 2009 the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force published and strongly recommended how cardio-protective aspirin should be taken. I will explain how to follow their guidelines along with the advice of your primary care provider.
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Things You'll Need
- A review of your current medications
- A review of any chronic medical conditions, including any cardiac disease
- A conversation with your healthcare provider to determine if cadio-protective aspirin (ASA) is right for you
Instructions
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Before you begin ANY medication therapy check with your healthcare provider to determine whether the therapy you are considering is right for you. While taking aspirin to help with the prevention of blood clots is a highly recommended prevention intervention, there are certain conditions and medications that may render it unnecessary or inadvisable. Checking with your healthcare provider is "how to" number one!
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Consider taking low dose aspirin if you are a man between the ages of 45 and 79 and a woman between the ages of 55 and 79, according to the 2002 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) report and subsequent studies that have shown the therapy to be more beneficial than harmful in many cases.
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Take 81 mg, the standard low dose of aspirin to provide cardiovascular protection. This is a fraction of the more typical 650 mg people take to treat a headache or other pain. This low-dose formula will help keep your blood free of clots, which can clog arteries and may result in a heart attack and/or stroke.
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Tips & Warnings
Speak with your healthcare provider before starting "cardiac" aspirin to see if it is a good intervention for your general health.
Always include cardiac ASA on your list of medications when a healthcare professional asks what medications you are taking. Low-dose aspirin may be contraindicated or may need to be halted temporarily for surgery and/or certain procedures (such as a colonoscopy).
If you notice any new bright red bleeding from your gums, in stools or elsewhere, stop taking the aspirin and call your healthcare provider immediately.
Taking cardio-protective aspirin therapy should only be done on the advice and counsel of your primary healthcare provider, and not solely on the basis of this educational article.
