Many people know aspirin as a common over-the-counter pain reliever. But what is aspirin, exactly?
Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory medication. It blocks the production of chemicals in the body called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins cause inflammation.
Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid, was first manufactured in 1897 by Felix Hoffmann of Bayer Corporation.
They used it to relieve pain, reduce fevers, and reduce inflammation.
It reduces fever, relieves minor aches and pains, including headaches, helps prevent heart attacks, and reduces the risk of blood clotting in people who are at high risk for developing clots.
Some doctors may use aspirin when they think that someone has a potentially serious condition like cancer or another type of infection to stop any inflammation in the body before it can settle down into an organized swelling (inflammation) that causes pain.
How Long Does Aspirin Stay In Your System?
Aspirin stays in your system for at least 2 weeks after you take it. It is stored in your fat cells, where it remains until you next take it. After 2 weeks, it is out of your system and not available for your body to use.
Aspirin also clears out quickly in your body. It metabolises in your liver within 15 minutes.
Eating Or Drinking With Aspirin
You can take Aspirin with foods, such as fish, milk, and eggs.
However, eating or drinking more than two slices of tomato, two ounces of oysters, or three ounces of chocolate, could increase your risk of bleeding. That is because the Vitamin C in tomatoes, oysters, and chocolate could interact with aspirin.
How Much Aspirin Is Too Much?
An average person who takes aspirin daily is not advised to exceed three tablets every twenty-four hours. However, over-the-counter medications vary in how quickly they thin your blood, so consult your doctor before you start taking more than the recommended dosage of aspirin if you already have an existing medical condition.
Taking an overdose of aspirin may make symptoms of a heart attack worse. Aspirin does not help people who have had heart attacks or strokes. It can increase the risk of both heart attack and stroke.
If you take too much aspirin, you may feel:
- nauseated
- headaches
- tired
- moody
The doctor should talk to you if you think you have a heart problem, have a family history of heart problems, or are taking high doses of other medicines.
More than 400 types of possible side effects have been reported.
Before You Take Aspirin
Before taking aspirin make sure you are not allergic to it. These are some of the factors that cause an allergy, but they are not the complete list of the causes of allergy to aspirin.
- Hemophilia, or any other bleeding disorder
- Asthmatic conditions
- Heart disease
- Stomach ulcers
- High blood pressure
- A recent history of intestinal bleeding
What Are The Side Effects Of Taking Aspirin?
People who take aspirin have a small risk of bleeding. The most common side effects of taking aspirin are:
- Bleeding gums
- Blistering skin or lips
- Redness in the mouth
- Ringing in your ears,
- Confusion,
- Hallucinations,
- Rapid breathing,
- Seizure
- Fever lasting longer than three days
- Aspirin can cause stomach pain, abdominal pain, cramps, and diarrhea.
People who are pregnant, nursing, or breastfeeding should not take aspirin because it could cause harm to the baby. People who have a lot of existing medical conditions should not take aspirin
Don’t hesitate to call a doctor if you notice any sign of a reaction to aspirin.
What Are The Benefits Of Taking Aspirin?
Taking aspirin has many benefits. It relieves pain, headaches, and inflammation. It also reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots in the body. This drug is best taken when someone has a fever or when they are at risk of developing cardiovascular problems in the future.
It can prevent heart attack and stroke. It also protects against various kinds of cancer.
When Is It Best To Take Aspirin?
Aspirin is usually taken as soon as possible after a wound occurs to treat minor injuries or infections. It is especially helpful to treat mosquito bites and stings.
How Much Aspirin Does It Take To Thin Your Blood?
Aspirin is also known as acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin, and salicylate. It can be found in many over-the-counter medications, including Listerine mouthwash and Bactine anti-itch ointment. It can also be found in foods like breakfast cereals, citrus fruits, onion, and celery.
Aspirin gets into your blood after you take it. The mechanism is relatively simple. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is sulfhydryl, which turns into a salt called salicylate (acetylsalicylic acid). Sulfate produced by bacteria binds to specific sugar groups on an enzyme called glutathione.
Glutathione then breaks down the sulfhydryl into salt (acetylsalicylic acid) and water (salt).
It can serve as a blood-thinning medicine for some patients if the doctors confirm they have sticky blood. Low-dose aspirin, also known as ‘baby aspirin’ may be recommended for some people. They are to take small doses of aspirin to make the blood less sticky.
The medication helps to protect against blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes.
Why Aspirin Is No Longer Recommended?
When we first started taking aspirin, it did nothing special for us. But for some reason, starting at some point in the early 1900s, our bodies started to like it and to love it. Aspirin gave us a little more energy and helped us in the fight against infections. It was our saviour.
“Aspirin is a common ingredient in other drugs such as blood pressure medication and heartburn medications, so any way you can get some of this drug into your system is beneficial to your health.”
In 1922, doctors in the United States started to notice an association between aspirin and bladder cancer. As a result, the FDA revised the labeling on aspirin bottles in the U.S. In 1964, scientists published a paper stating that aspirin may cause stomach cancer
Today, aspirin is no longer recommended for adults above 70 years. For people, this age, and above, the risk of cardiovascular bleeding that may arise from taking aspirin outweighs its benefits.
According to the chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr Steven Nissen, “For patients without heart disease, the risks of aspirin, primarily bleeding, are significant. For most patients without heart disease at moderate risk, the benefits do not exceed the risks.”