[chroma]

This article is about aspirin reducing melanoma:

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/0...k-study-finds/

And includes:

Researchers believe inflammation plays a big role in cancer development, and aspirin is an anti-inflammatory drug. Previous studies support the idea that in certain kinds of cancers, aspirin may be preventative.

Well, if aspirin is a powerful enough anti-inflammatory to have measurable effects on cancer and heart disease, should it also be part of the regimen for a TOS sufferer? Besides the normal benefits, wouldn't a reduction in inflammation make sense for TOS?

Disclaimer: There are risks with aspirin. See:

http://www.nextavenue.org/article/20...ed-aspirin-day

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/0...k-study-finds/

Your thoughts?

(Oh and we just had an earthquake here in socal. Felt it. Heard the house crack and creak.)

[boytos]

no, aspirin is way too dangerous and there are better, safe medications for pain.

[mrsD]

I am not a TOS patient, but I have alot of chronic inflammatory pain... and have had it most of my long life.

I find aspirin is very very useful. It works for me better than anything else. Some of us on PN here use it for burning nerve pain with great success.

I find that AlkaSeltzer original formula works the best. You dissolve it in water and the aspirin is absorbed so fast, in solution you will be totally surprised!

I get mine at WalMart, Equate brand, and it is just so inexpensive for the relief and reduction of inflammatory pain, it is almost "free"...

We studied this dosage form in the late 60's when I was in college... Aspirin in solution is as fast as an IV injection. It is one product that was accidentally produced before the understanding of it was fully appreciated.

I don't use it 24/7, but when things get away from me, it never fails to provide almost instant relief.
People with complex bleeding or clotting issues should ask their doctors before using any aspirin product. But don't discount aspirin in some form for some kinds of pain.
Using aspirin in solution form will be the least disturbing to your stomach, as well.

[boytos]

many nsaid are safer than aspirin.

[chroma]

Thanks for the responses.

boytos mentioned pain in his first post and mrsD mentioned taking a regular dose for relief of flare ups. That's not what I was trying to get at in my original post:

I was thinking about the approach of regularly taking baby aspirin. People already do this today, primarily for prevention of heart problems. It also appears to be useful for prevention of cancer. It has anti-inflammatory properties which are generally of benefit to TOS patients.

So does it make sense for TOS patients to take this anti-inflammatory proactively and regularly, at a low dose?

Re: safety, "more than 50 million US adults take aspirin regularly for long-term prevention of cardiovascular disease" (http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article....ticleid=206954). As previous links show, it's not perfectly safe and the safety even varies according to various factors. But I'm doubtful that baby aspirin is problematic in a big way.

Also of interest is that an even lower dose may be possible. From the same article:

Long-term Therapy. Due to its irreversible inactivation of platelet COX-1 and presumably minimal de novo synthesis of new COX-1 by platelets, the effects of long-term aspirin dosing are cumulative. Once complete inhibition of COX-1 is achieved, only minimal doses of aspirin are required to ensure adequate acetylation of COX-1 activity arising in newly formed platelets entering the circulation (approximately 10% daily). Because of this, dosages of as little as 30 mg/d have been shown to completely inhibit serum TXB2 production in healthy individuals.8 In patients with chronic stable angina, in whom thromboxane synthesis is chronically elevated, 50 mg/d of aspirin normalizes thromboxane production and prevents release in the setting of pacing-induced ischemia.24- 25 Limited pharmacodynamic data also suggest that 100 mg of aspirin every other day is also effective at suppressing platelet function.26

Enteric-coated products are also routinely used in the setting of long-term aspirin therapy. However, questions have arisen regarding the effect of enteric coating on the bioavailability and biological activity of aspirin. There is conflicting evidence regarding the effectiveness of routinely administered enteric-coated products, even among trials with similar designs. In a study comparing 3 different enteric preparations with uncoated aspirin, it was noted that despite high levels (>96%) of TXB2 suppression by all preparations, the uncoated form led to a significantly higher level of inhibition.27

So I think you could cut the baby aspirin in half. Maybe after taking the regular dose for a period of time. They don't say how long it takes before "complete inhibition of COX-1 is achieved".

Again this is the question I'm interested in:

Does it make sense for TOS patients to take this anti-inflammatory proactively and regularly, at a low dose?

Re: other anti-inflammatories do they come in "baby doses"? Has their long term use been studied?

[mrsD]

There have been recent studies on people taking an aspirin a day on a regular basis.(325 or 81mg) It was found that some of those taking it that way had microbleeds in the brain.

http://www.alsearsmd.com/pdf/AspirinReport.pdf

Aspirin has always been a double edged sword.

But I believe it is a great anti-inflammatory. Some people with Rheumatoid arthritis, use it still today.

We have some recent posts in our Health News forum about preventing skin cancer in fact:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread185253.html
It has been suggested also as a preventive measure for colon cancer in the past.

If you want to try it, please consult your doctor before doing so and discuss the risks vs benefits for your particular medical situation.

[chroma]

Thanks. I saw in my browsing, but then also saw in that study I posted that once you have been taking it for awhile, you only need 30mg. Also, the study points out that the risk of bleeding is proportional to the dose.

So my plan is to get the 81 mg is a sizeable form (chewable) and chop it in half with a pill cutter.

I would like to see more of these studies done with doses under 81mg. Like 70, 60, 50, 40, 30. How does the number of negative incidents change with the dose size?

[Iris]

I take 60 mg daily. It's compounded for me.

Originally Posted by chroma

Thanks. I saw in my browsing, but then also saw in that study I posted that once you have been taking it for awhile, you only need 30mg. Also, the study points out that the risk of bleeding is proportional to the dose.

So my plan is to get the 81 mg is a sizeable form (chewable) and chop it in half with a pill cutter.

I would like to see more of these studies done with doses under 81mg. Like 70, 60, 50, 40, 30. How does the number of negative incidents change with the dose size?