Aspirin kills.  That is the news headline blasted around the world this week.  [Daily Mail June 14, 2017]  This fact was already known but it appears disease classification errors were hiding 38% of the aspirin-induced brain hemorrhages and gastric bleeding episodes from reviewers (were they intentionally covering this up?).  For senior adults over age 75 the risk of an aspirin-related death or disabling bleeding event is as likely as the stroke prevention it promises!

Super-seniors are at the greatest risk.  The risk for major bleeding or fatal events associated with aspirin use was 0.5 percent in under-65s, rising to 1.5 percent for those aged 75-84 and nearly 4.1 percent for over-85s. [The Lancet June 13, 2017]

The risk of disability emanating from an aspirin-induced hemorrhage in the brain increases 12.8 times for those who are over age 75 compared to those who are under age 75.  Among aspirin users over age 75, ~9% will experience a disabling or fatal gastric bleeding event!

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Beyond Aspirin : Natur... Paul Schulick Best Price: $1.29 Buy New $8.00 (as of 06:40 UTC - Details) Roughly 40-66% of adults over age 75 years old in the USA and Europe take a daily aspirin tablet or other anti-blood clotting drugs.  There are 64 million people living in the United Kingdom. [UK Population Clock] with ~5 million over the age of 75.  The U.S. is ~5 times the population of the UK, with a population of 325 million [US Pop Clock] with ~19 million over age 75. [Census.gov]  So, the U.S. has 3.8 times more seniors age 75 and over and those 3000 estimated aspirin-related deaths in the UK would translate to 11,400 needless deaths per year on this side of the Atlantic.

Add another problematic drug

Modern medicine’s idea to counter this risk is to take a designer antacid (proton pump inhibitor) such as Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, Aciphex, Nexium, that are fraught with their own long list of side effect including the risk for Clostriidium difficile, an infectious bacterium that can be mortal, particularly when it has become resistant to antibiotic drugs.  [Medicine.net] Proton pump inhibitors also impair the absorption of essential nutrients such as vitamin B12 and iron, magnesium and calcium, so patients never get well.  [Drug Safety June 2013]

How aspirin works: iron loss

It helps to understand just how aspirin prevents heart attacks and strokes.  A major aspirin mechanism is the loss of small amounts of blood, which represents micro blood letting.   The health benefits of bloodletting were reported by this author in 2014 [LewRockwell.com May 3, 2014]

Aspirin induces a small amount of iron loss via bleeding in the gastric tract to counter the accumulation of iron in the body of full-grown The New Aspirin Altern... Loes, M.D., M.D. (H.),... Buy New $14.95 (as of 07:55 UTC - Details) males and post-menopausal females.  Aspirin induced iron loss may exacerbate anemia among young menstruating females but spare a 40-year old male from iron overload.  Aspirin-induced iron loss is attributed to its ant-cancer properties (tumor cells rely on iron and copper for growth).  [Medical Hypotheses Jan 2010]  Daily aspirin use via blood loss lowers iron storage (ferritin) and is believed to lower the risk for heart attacks. [American Journal Clinical Nutrition Aug 2001]

The combined use of aspirin + Helicobacter pylori infection is problematic.  H. pylori is the bacterium that causes gastric ulcers.

One small study indicates Helicobacter pylori, a common infection of the gastric tract, increases the risk for aspirin-induced gastric bleeding from 40% to 73%.  [Digestive Diseases June 9, 2017] Another earlier study confirms these numbers.  It does not appear that aspirin dose is a significant threat as much as the combination aspirin + H. pylori.  [Journal Physiology Pharmacology Sept 1997]

The prevalence of H. pylori in the U.S. population is 20% for people under age 30 and 50% for those older than age 60. [Public Health Univ. Arizona]  H. pylori infection shuts off gastric acid secretion, which should be telling to public health authorities who recommend antacids with aspirin to prevent side effects.

Chronic users of aspirin and other over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs experience a 5-fold increase in the risk for bleeding gastric ulcers, whereas the addition of an antacid drug (proton pump inhibitors) reduces that risk by ~70%.  [Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics Nov 2004] The Longevity Factor: ... Maroon, Joseph Best Price: $1.99 Buy New $24.00 (as of 04:25 UTC - Details)

Buffered aspirin reduces but does not eliminate the risk for lesions in the gastric tract.  The combination of buffered aspirin with vitamin C lowers the risk of bleeding ulcers even more. [Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics Feb 1, 2004]  Enteric coating is also protective but not foolproof. [Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics Aug 1999] All of the efforts to eliminate aspirin-induced gastric bleeding negate the iron-controlling effect of micro-bleeding given that most of the iron in the body is stored in red blood cells.

However, aspirin depletes vitamin C.  [International Journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics Sept 2004; Biochemical Pharmacology Dec 15, 1982]  While vitamin C activates white blood cells when given with aspirin, this action is blocked. [International Journal Vitamin Nutrition Research 1982]

The red wine molecule resveratrol has been proposed as a superior anti-inflammatory, pain relieving, anti-heart attack agent to aspirin. [PRNewswire]