The Healthy Blogger

Aspirin use in healthy individuals may be dangerous

There is a warning out against the use of aspirin in healthy individuals for the prevention of heart attacks and strokes.  I find it funny that any healthy person would want to take medication needlessly anyway.  I have a hard enough time trying to take a vitamin a day.  And aspirin is not a benign drug.

Aspirin has been in use for ages.  It’s a pain reliever, an anti-platelet and an anti-inflammatory agent.  It became part of the regimen for those with heart disease and strokes to prevent further problems.  However, there are some negatives attributes to this simple drug.  It may cause ulcers.  Therefore, when the risk of bleeding from ulcers is greater than the risk from heart attack and strokes, doctors are cautious about recommending aspirin.

So, it would make sense that in a normal, healthy adult, prophylactic use of aspirin is not indicated and, even worse, may be dangerous.  Not just the risk of ulcers – not everyone is prone to ulcers from aspirin.  But, because it is a blood thinner due to its anti-platelet effects, bleeding from anywhere is a risk.  This includes a bleeding, or haemorrhagic, stroke after a fall.

It’s unclear why anyone would be taking aspirin regularly.  Perhaps, they’ve heard that it prevents heart attacks and strokes and have taken it upon themselves to reduce their own risk.  Perhaps, their doctor had mistakenly advised them to do so.  I have heard of doctors regularly advising those older than 50 to take an aspirin a day, regardless of their risk factors.  Perhaps, now, they will think twice about doing so.  That is not to say that they can’t take it for pain once in a while.

Irresponsible BBC reporting on the state of HIV therapy

I found the latest article on HIV and STDs on the BBC website extremely irresponsible and offensive.  I realise that the point of the article was to encourage those with HIV to see a doctor and be treated, but the message does not come across that way.

It did state that the main focus of prevention is on the use of condoms.  But this statement was made at the beginning.  For the rest of the article, it was never mentioned again.  In fact, the writer seemed to imply that condoms were completely unnecessary.  The story’s focus was on how good anti-HIV treatment has become – so good, that the person could be considered no longer infectious.  Because of this, the likelihood of the person passing on the virus was close to nil.

Never mind the fact that people have been shown to pass the virus on to their partners.  The article passes this off as few and far between.  Should this complacent attitude be what experts are advising?

There is no cure for HIV at this time, but antiviral therapy has helped to slow down the spread of the disease.  Because the epidemic has been stopped, is this reason to say that we can all relax our vigilance?

It is no wonder that the younger generation shows no fears about sexually transmitted diseases.