Aspirin for heart attack
 

I don't mean preventative, but aspirin to chew if you think you might be having a heart attack. I carry it in my purse, and have some handy in the kitchen. I'm always happy to throw it away not having had to use it. I see it's getting to the expiration date and I need to buy more.

They say NOT to take enteric-coated aspirin. Is any "coated" aspirin "enteric-coated"? I was just going to order some, but it's been so long I can't remember what I got last time--probably a couple of years ago.

Wouldn't it be hard to chew "coated" aspirin? Any pill I've ever taken that was coated seemed like it had a hard shell around it.

Enteric coated aspirin takes a long long time to dissolve, hence is not appropriate for emergency heart attack treatment. Usually they are orange in color and say enteric coated on the label.

I think when you are HOME, using AlkaSeltzer is best. We studied this in biopharmaceutics, and this product is as fast as an IV shot! Make sure you get the ORIGINAL formula..as AlkaSeltzer makes many things now with that name.

I keep AlkaSeltzer around for other reasons, mostly for pain and my PN. (it works well for PN) . I use inexpensive generic from WalMart...and because of the foil packaging I've seen it stay fresh long past the expiration date. So if you want INSTANT aspirin consider keeping this around at home. Of course you have to dissolve it in water, which would be difficult on the go.
But it can be done with a bottle of water. I used to take it with me to work, and if I needed it after a long day on my feet, I'd break the large discs up and throw in my water bottle and drink that. It is best done with only about 6oz of water in the bottle.
WalMart's product is only about $2.00 for 36 doses. Really affordable.

When aspirin is no longer fresh, you can smell the vinegar odor which is the acetyl portion cleaved off the molecule. This happens when air and moisture react with the aspirin chemistry.

There is a new Bayer product out...but I don't think it is as fast as AlkaSeltzer original formula...
http://scienceofpain.com/en/scienceofbayeradvance.php

Chewing up 4 baby aspirins of 81mg each would be about the dose of one regular aspirin.

I think I'll get the baby aspirin. If I were the one having the heart attack, I wouldn't have the presence of mind to chew anything, I don't think. But I'd like to think if someone else were exhibiting signs, I would think to haul out the aspirin.

Non-enteric coated aspirin, typically has a thin clear coating on it
to suppress the taste. In the old days, they had no coat at all.

The enteric coated ones originally were called Ecotrin, and historically many generic companies still make theirs orange.
But now a days with China and India, this may not be true anymore and you can not go by color perhaps.

You can chew an enteric coated one up... it is just not pleasant.
The baby aspirin is orange flavored as it was meant to be chewable. Adult aspirin is not flavored and not pleasant, IMO.

Also there are 81mg "baby" aspirin now that are coated...so be careful choosing. This is because babies don't use it anymore and daily prevention use by adults is more common and aspirin taken every day by chewing will erode the teeth, eventually.
(they are very acidic)

Got all that? alot of detail for a simple thing. NOTHING is simple anymore!

I have dis solvable asprin in my car, and alka selzter in my home. I do check on dates twice a year. I clean out med cabinets, old stock and cars then. We also change the battery in the smoke dectectors, and so forth.

It is my impression you HAVE to chew up the aspirin for heart attack use. Swallowing it can take up to 1/2 hr on an empty stomach! You need INSTANT blood levels, to get the clot busting effects.

Swallowing any of the baby aspirins, will delay absorption. So the chewable is mostly recommended or a regular release adult 325mg one CHEWed up.

Also, this is not a guarantee for working... but a suggestion.
A severe attack may be too large for this intervention.

And it can't hurt, right? Well, I guess if somebody is having pain from a bleeding ulcer, chewing an aspirin wouldn't be a good plan. But if the pain turned out to be muscular or something else, chewing an aspirin wouldn't hurt...and if it WAS the beginning of a heart attack, it could help.

We live in an area that, while the EMT's are very good, they are also twenty minutes away. Our volunteer firemen are emergency responders and are more like 5-10 minutes away (if they're home), but they don't have the equipment that the ambulance crew has.

So my theory is that a couple of dollars worth of aspirin at least has the potential to help in that kind of emergency. God forbid there be one.

Thought this was interesting.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/up...ate0505a.shtml

I was given 4 baby aspirin in the ER when a heart attack was suspected.
I am on a daily low dose aspirin now...