The Imperfection of the Aspirin Quick Fix

In a recent post, Dr. Rick Positano calls aspirin "perfect" - a "wonder drug" in preventing heart attacks, strokes, even colon cancer. As an integrative health journalist, I wanted to offer a different view.

As Dr. Positano writes, people can "use aspirin if the benefit ... outweighs gastrointestinal risks." Since aspirin is well documented to sometimes lead to internal abdominal bleeding, Dr. Positano advises that "your doctor...must green light ...and monitor your body's acceptance of this wonder drug."

Uh oh, aspirin's must be monitored by regular doctor visits. And just how will the doctor monitor?

Well, after discovering signs of internal bleeding, the doctors attending one of my elderly relatives ordered an endoscopy and a colonoscopy, in the end determining (after the fact) that the bleeding resulted from years of aspirin use.

Wisely, the doctors took my relative off aspirin, while an integrative physician recommended a natural product that both thins the blood and heals the gut without causing internal bleeding. Why isn't this natural product more widely known and available? Because despite decades of successful use and thousands of anecdotal cases, this product would not be deemed "evidence-based standard care" by conventional MDs. Unlike aspirin (produced by an internationally traded company that can pour millions into testing and marketing all of its uses) that natural product has to yet to undergo the particular form of testing devised for toxic synthetic products made by drug companies. Although there are many other forms of testing efficacy (such as outcomes based research) the "gold standard" of what's been dubbed "evidence based medicine" is reserved for the pharmaceutical model of research.

Applying unnecessary testing criteria to natural substances and soft touch treatments with less risk of harm than more invasive medical products and procedures diminishes the use and availability of such treatments by creating fear and doubt in peoples' minds. The rising, potentially bankrupting medical costs we face begin with over-rating the high cost synthetic over the natural and human.

Are lower risk treatments really "unscientific," as often claimed by industry spokespeople? Can those acting from vested interest be considered "scientifically objective?"

The bottom line is that any product or treatment that lessens the need for a pharma industry OTC or prescription product, (like aspirin), or that reduces or eliminates the need for a costly surgery lowers income gained by medical institutions, doctors, and pharmaceutical companies.

Opposition to natural treatments, under the guise of "science," (or by stirring up needless alarm about one questionable herb while many synthetic drugs are known to produce scores of startling "side effects") is in many instances economic. Can we assume that doctor always "knows best" or can even be "objective" when his or her health care recommendations are influenced by economic and industry pressures and incentives? 88% of Americans agree that "there are some good ways of treating sickness that medical science does not recognize. (This according to a 2001 survey by the National Science Foundation.)

This is not just about aspirin.

Failure to address potential future health concerns at the wellness stage inevitably leads to their treatment at the acute or terminal stage, when invasive and conventional treatments often serve as the final option. The costs, both human and economic, of health and insurance systems geared to drive us towards final stage acute treatment, are painfully high.

Due to prescription drug advertising, and political lobbying, the public policies and corporate agendas that sustain our current system are not well covered on television or addressed by most politicians. But with health care costs for seniors tripling in the next decade and with visits to integrative practitioners (often paid out of pocket) accessed by two thirds of all Americans, according to a 2001 survey, it's clear that the majority of people are voting with their feet. They need to be better represented in the discussions about health care reform. Perhaps one of the Presidential candidates will reach out to this sizeable constituency.

The oft-repeated chestnut that the American health care system is "the best in the world" is contradicted by many international surveys in which we typically rank below other developed nations. While critiquing the system is subtly depicted as "unpatriotic," many Americans, at all economic and social levels, are paying a steep price for the denial about the shortfalls in our system. Events of the last decade have awakened a well-founded skepticism about the beneficence of those entrusted with political leadership. It's been a painful awakening. With the mounting health care crisis, there may be a parallel reconsideration about the beneficence of conventional approaches and quick fix solutions.

Offering aspirin as a "perfect" panacea for preventing heart disease, stroke or colon cancer may get a patient out of one's office in ten minutes. But what about looking into the wider causes of the dramatic rise in the ailments Positano cites. Why over the last thirty years have heart disease and colon cancer become more frequent in our population? Does it have anything to do with the quality of our foods, with the exposure to a brew of novel chemicals, or even to medical treatments themselves?

Part of self-care is looking beyond physicians for a quick fix, and seeking the answers to these questions ourselves. The real remedy is demanding that our leaders make changes in health care, food safety, and public policy. If instead, we accept the quick fix, we'll deserve the health care we get. So before you take that perfect aspirin and expect to feel better in the morning, think about the long-term side-effects of abdicating your health care.

Comments

[NorCalNative]

Alison, I can certainly understand your frustration with conventional medicine. Most of our medicines ARE derived from plants or are copied from plants already. I agree that Medicine needs to soften its stance on substances that fail the dose titration test.

Health Care works best when patients have access to the full-range of treatments. This is a case of allowing the marketplace to have priority over patients. That is one of the most fundamental errors of American Health Care. Some things are TOO IMPORTANT to leave to the market.

Big Pharma owns Congress and that remains the reason why change is difficult. Each and every interested voter and concerned patient needs to look at his/her representatives and see how much money they are getting from the Health Care industries. Don't vote for candidates taking this "dirty" money.

[checkyourpremises]

Alison, You are absolutely right to call Dr. Positano on his assumption that aspirin is the perfect drug. To say aspirin is perfect reminds me of politicians who say "America is the greatest country in the world," while knowing little of life is like on the rest of the planet, and caring less. It"s an unusual Huffington blog that lists a drug's benefits, like some sales handout from Big Pharma.
I suppose in an age of credulity such as our own, it is not surprising to find someone naively extolling the virtues of an allegedly tried and true remedy that can cause dangerous bleeding and must be taken under the supervision of a doctor. The point, which you so accurately zoned in on, is not the efficacy of aspirin, but the tilt in the playing field that puts on the defensive less risky but possibly equally effective remedies that corporate giants can"t control because they are not synthetic. It's a prejudice that ha been etched in to the public's mind for years. I am reminded of a toothpaste ad I saw on a billboard in a third-world country, loudly proclaiming "Totally Artificial!"

[MrsGreebers]

You mention "a natural product that both thins the blood and heals the gut without causing internal bleeding."

Um, WHAT IS IT?

[DanaUllman]

When doctors assert that "asprin works," that is the bad news. Yes, it kills pain, but it does nothing about the reason that the person has pain, thus leading the person to contine to use the injured part, not knowing that he or she is creating additional damage to the injury.

And yes, it thins blood, but as Alison has said, there are safer ways to do so.

[Newfycrat]

There are two supplements that if they were drugs would make the drug companies a heck of a lot of money. And although most all doctors are ignorant about them, there is a PDR for nutritional supplements and all the studies that pass their scrutiny are in there. In Europe they take supplements more seriously than here, and doctors do prescribe them.
The first is bromelain, or pineapple enzyme. Not only is this a blood thinner like aspirin, but it is one of the most studied supplements there is. It does not cause gastrointestinal problems. It works just as well as any NSAI. It cuts the healing time of bruises in half. It cuts the time of sports inflammation injuries in half. It increases the absorption of several drugs. It can eliminate angina in individuals where other drugs did not work. It is prescribed in Japan for angina. We use it for pain, and we take it before exercise to prevent arthritis flare ups and soreness.
(you are not supposed to take it if you are on blood thinners or are allergic to pineapple)
The other one is DGL or deglycolized licorice. Regular licorice can raise blood pressure, DGL cannot. If DGL were a drug, it would be $3.00 a pill. It somehow (they do not know how or they would have made a drug by now) increases the lining of the stomach and small intestines. It is recommended to take it with aspirin therapy to (possibly) prevent GI bleeding. People take it for ulcers and other digestion problems.
If anyone wants to know about these, go to the library and check out the PDR for nutritional supplements, copy it and bring it to your doctor. Your doctor will probably take a PDR a little more seriously then just asking him/her about it.

[charon]

Certainly aspirin can have negative, even deadly, side effects, in some cases. Most drugs are not advised for everybody. However, for most people, aspirin works well when used properly.

It is hardly the worst offender big pharma has to offer. It is cheap and does not strain most budgets. Used cautiously and within guidelines it has few side effects, compared to, say, Ambien. Of course, morphine is a superior analgesic and has fewer side effects than aspirin, the main fear being addiction.

Herbals are good, and prepared extracts of white willow bark or arnica, among others, may be better than aspirin, but they may have negative side effects. Maybe they should be looked into, put under controlled testing.

And your point that what is really needed are lifestyle changes, in activity, diet, etc., is valid as far as it goes. But for people who haven't, or won't, change, perhaps aspirin (or other, better treatments if they can be found) is better than just letting them suffer and die.

I think aspirin, for all its imperfections, is presently still a very useful drug. Let's hope we can find better, cheaper ones though.

[readyforchange]

Allison, thanks for your thoughtful, well-written blog. It illustrates the "other side," of which we seldom hear anything but fear-mongering sponsored by Big Pharma and the AMA (and their lap-dog, the FDA).

Our disease-care system is sorely lacking, and responsible for as much harm as good. Americans have been brain-washed to believe we have the best medical care in the world. To those who believe it, I say do some research.

For the most part, this over-priced system focuses on treating symptoms, never leading to true healing.

Man cannot replicate the intelligence of nature when he tries to synthesize it. White Willow Bark was the original source of salicylic acid. But nature provides something aspirin lacks. White Willow Bark is considered a demulcent herb, meaning it has the ability to protect and coat mucous membranes. So, not only does it provide aspirin's effects, it also protects the stomach lining.

If you want healing, go to the source...nature.