I thought I had finally gotten it straight: everybody in the world should be taking a low dose aspirin a day to protect from heart disease. That's pretty easy. right? No exceptions, no complicated algorithms, no need to think.Well, as a noted sportscaster often says "Not so fast my friend." A new study reported just a few days ago looks to re-write the rules. The headlines in Yahoo News is a little more bold:
'Daily aspirin may do more harm than good: study." http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090831/lf_afp/healthresearchheartbritain
I'll bet you that people all over this country are tossing their aspirin bottle in the garbage. There's an old expression that goes somethin like this: 'The Devil's in the Details." You may wish to look for yourself how this study was designed, how it was conducted, how the data were analyzed, and what it all means. I promise you it will give you a glimpse of what lies ahead in the EBP course: Just when you think you have all the answers, they go and change the questions. Here's the press release:
Here's the puny local coverage I get from the local radio station, WRUF:
A new study done has found that taking an aspirin a day may not always be the best option. British scientists have found healthy people who take aspirin regularly are doubleing their risk for harmful stomach bleeding. The findings also show that aspirin does not reduce the risk of heart attack in healthy people. University of Florida pharmacist Paul Doering says we must be careful to not mistake the findings in this study. He says if you are at high risk for a heart attack or if you have previously had a heart attack, you should keep taking an aspirin each day.
Doering says the best thing is to ask your doctor whether or not an aspirin a day is right for you.
Doering says the best thing is to ask your doctor whether or not an aspirin a day is right for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment