Aspirin linked to higher bleeding and death risk in the elderly.

[seasider18]

dailymail.co.uk/wires/reute...

Much in the article that BobD will comment on.

[BobD Volunteer]

Just to be clear here. aspirin as a prophylactic against stroke is next to useless. It has uses post stroke or MI but not before which is why we are so keen on anticoagulants in AF.

I do worry about PPI s and I don't mean payment protection insurance. My own experience and that of some others is that excess use of PPIs can exacerbate reflux problems rather than solve them due to the design of your bodies*, so like everything we stuff in our gobs should be taken with caution.

Final comment is that as we age our risk/benefit graph changes but at quite what point we give up and accept our fate I don't yet know. I'm thinking maybe 94 to match the last three generations of my family.

* For those who haven't seen me say it before, the sphincter at the base of the stomach requires an acid environment to open and pass food into the gut. Reduce that acidity too much and you end up with food trapped in the stomach which then bubbles back into the oesophagus causing the very reflux you were trying to stop.

[Polski in reply to BobD]

Your last point, Bob, is very relevant to the discussions that have been on here about the use of apple cider vinegar. It is an acid of course, and is believed to improve the ability of the stomach to be acid enough to allow the food to pass into the gut, as you have describe.

However it has another major benefit. Our bodies want our blood system to be slightly alkali, but many foods we eat eg meat, leave it too acidic. Most vegetables are roughly neutral, although fruit leaves it slightly on the acidic side, but much less so than dairy products and meat. The most effective things to counter this are garlic - and apple cider vinegar (not other kinds). So taking apple cider vinegar daily, either in our cooking (by replacing other vinegars), or in a glass of water first thing in the morning (1 teaspoon to a glass initially, increasing slowly to 1 tablespoon) should also help to 'cleanse' the system, and should leave our blood more alkali and so ourselves more healthy. I wonder if this is why a diet based largely on vegetables seems to help so many people - their system is consequently much less 'acidic'.

[jennydog]

I have often posted that daily aspirin upset my stomach. This proved surprising as I'd previously taken it for headaches and my stomach was considered to be bomb proof. It's sobering that there is no antidote for aspirin.

[Polski]

I am a little confused. I understand that aspirin is no use to prevent strokes due to blood clots formed as a result of AF, whether the AF is diagnosed or not. However I had understood that it is effective against stroke caused by other factors such as those that could lead to a heart attack or a stroke eg problems with arteriosclerosis, hardening of arteries etc. This article, and presumably research, does not seem to distinguish between them eg it recommends anti-platelets which AFers wouldn't use anyway, as an alternative to aspirin. So I don't think it is relevant to us at all! Perhaps someone can look at the actual research and enlighten us - did they distinguish between different causes of stroke, or notf?