Important news about aspirin and heart health....

Today's Post: Friday, 5-27-2011

1. The good news first!

When my acid reflux acted up in a way that might have been a heart attack, I went to the emergency room at the Kaiser hospital nearby. I’m a member of Kaiser.

The ER doctor asked two questions right away.

a) What is your smoking status? And he asked it several ways. Do you smoke now? Are you exposed to tobacco smoke at home or at work or at place you go often? Have you ever smoked? If you quit how long ago was that?

It seems the ER doctor knew in detail - as few smokers do -- that yes answers meant it was much more likely I WAS having a heart attack and more of a life-threatening emergency if I was having one.

(I’ve since discovered this is all quite true and a bit about why it is.)

b) He then asked if I had taken aspirin as soon as I thought I might be having a heart attack.

I had done so. And I’d chewed up the tablet before washing it down to get it into my bloodstream faster. I’d read that this might be life-saving if I was having a heart attack. He confirmed that and said it doubled my odds that I’d survive if I was having one!

>>> Here’s the news! As of this week, starting at Walgreens I think, Bayer is selling a new kind of aspirin that has tested to be twice as fast to get into your bloodstream. It also cuts the wait for pain relief in half.

That means that for safety reasons, you should buy a bottle or more of this new aspirin in case you ever seem to be having a heart attack. And, you should have a bottle with you at home and at work. It likely will work much better than the older kind if you do need it for that reason.

This can be life-saving -- just like have a fire extinguisher at home or wearing your seat belt can be.

2. The second piece of news I just read on Medscape is to avoid taking larger doses of aspirin at a time. The story basically said that the research on stomach bleeding from aspirin found it was more connected to larger doses than how many days you take aspirin.

You might take two instead of one for a possible heart attack.

But if taking aspirin for pain for several days, taking one at time every few hours instead of 3 at a time will be MUCH safer.

3. The third piece of news is that for preventing heart disease and heart attacks, there are several more effective and safer ways to prevent heart attacks by lowering inflammation and excessive blood clotting.

They have other health benefits and do NOT risk stomach bleeding as aspirin sometimes does.

a) One very important one is to avoid tobacco smoke. It seems that tobacco smoke causes heart disease in part because a cyanide like compound in the smoke damages the lining of your blood vessels and boosts inflammation a lot.

So you will avoid both heart disease AND excessive inflammation by avoiding tobacco smoke.

b) There are supplements and kinds of food that lower inflammation or excess clotting or both.

To avoid excessive clotting and promote circulation 60 mg a day of ginkgo biloba can work. More is not needed and it should not be taken as aspirin should not be soon before surgery or if you are on blood thinning drugs.

Vitamin E from natural sources and supplements taken from them tends to prevent excess clotting and has antioxidant effects. (I take the 200 iu a day vitamin E by Solgar that has some of the other tocopherols. It has 200 iu of the alpha; but it also has some of the beta, gamma, and delta tocopherols. I also eat nuts almost every day, pecan halves, walnut halves – both raw and unprocessed or salted and some unsalted almond butter a few times a week. And, I eat some extra virgin olive oil daily.)

I also take deodorized garlic once a day from Kyolic as this cuts excess clotting and along with lots of vitamin C may partially reverse arterial plaque. (I do it far less often, but eating raw, minced garlic in salads etc also has this effect.)

I also drink at least one glass of red wine most days. Both compounds in the wine and the alcohol protect your heart. And drinking red wine tends to lower excess clotting as one of the ways it does so.

(This works so well for me that I also take 5 mg a day of vitamin K2 which is also heart protective but stops me from bruising too easily as I was doing. It seems my system was working almost too well without it. K2 is also good for your heart and for keeping your bones strong I’ve read.)

Preventing inflammation is very important for preventing heart disease.

One way most people need today is to dial way back their excess omega 6 intake. Too much omega 6 directly causes excess inflammation.

That means using extra virgin olive oil instead of corn oil or soy oil or safflower oil or even canola oil. In fact, NEVER using those other oils is safest for your heart.

It also means eating virtually no foods made from refined grains. Grain is high in omega 6 and corn and corn oil seem to have the most.

It also means substituting beans or vegetables for some whole grains also.

Lastly, animals fed grain instead of their natural foods have excessive omega 6 in their fat. So eat less grain fed meat and poultry and eat only the leanest most fat free kinds. It seems those actions are heart protective more for avoiding excess omega 6 oils than for avoiding excess saturated fat. Farmed fish have the same problem as they are often fed grain plus they have excessive pollutants. Stick with wild caught fish; and never fry them in oils that are high in omega 6.

The part two of this is to sharply increase your intake of omega 3 oils as they help balance the omega 6 oils you do eat and sharply lower inflammation. They also may reduce excess blood clotting.

Wild caught fish high in omega 3 such as salmon, sardines, herring, and small mackerel work. Ideally have at least 2 servings most weeks.

And, taking an omega 3 supplement from purified fish oil and a DHA supplement daily also boosts your omega 3 intake.

The other main kind of omega 3 in fish oil is EPA. I just read in the Medscape news that EPA also prevents the oxidation of LDL cholesterol by a good bit while DHA cuts some kinds a little.

And extra benefit is that lowering inflammation with these methods may also help prevent cancers and other degenerative diseases.

The foods and supplements that lower inflammation in addition include ginger, turmeric (which provides the yellow color in curries) and taking curcumin daily. Curcumin is thought to be the main anti-inflammatory component of turmeric.

And, ginger and turmeric are related. I find ginger tastes better and has a spicier effect that I like compared to turmeric but I eat both and take curcumin daily. I also use a curry spice along with the turmeric that has other spices that may make the turmeric stronger as an anti-inflammatory food.

This last group of anti-inflammatory foods and spices also helps prevent joint pain and damage. It reduces the aches and pains that many people have to buy and take pain relievers to get rid of. And, the curry, curcumin, and turmeric tend to prevent Alzheimer’s disease as well.

This list of things to do or eat or take is a lot longer than taking one baby aspirin a day. But it also prevents heart disease and heart attack far better. It prevents heart attacks far better. It has far more other health benefits. And it has virtually no risk of stomach bleeding.

So, there you have it.

But the new faster aspirin for emergency use for a heart attack or a suspected heart attack.

But do these other things in this list to prevent heart attacks instead of taking aspirin.