why is aspirin a day sometimes recommended for heart patients?
923635
Aspirin contains an anticoagulant and that helps prevent the clotting that sometimes leads to a coronary problem.\n\nThat same anticoagulant is the reason blood banks prefer you not take aspirin before donating blood as it can thin it so much as to cause problems.
536497
NSAIDs thin the blood, decreasing the inflammatory response. But they can also weaken the arterial and cardiac walls with long-term use.
1038659
I am a physician assistant and I work in a large cardiology clinic, including manning our lipid clinic for patients with hard-to-treat hyperlipidemia and significant risk factors for coronary disease.  I would be happy to answer your question(s) but you did not ask any.  The general subject of statin medications is entirely too broad for me to even know what to say to you.  \n\nI'll check back tomorrow.  Hopefully you can be more specific about what you want to know.
1175522
YES, usually twice a day, it prevents gum disease, and many other health problems...
1071476
Around 30ish and no it is not only to be taken on medical advice its to protect yourself from the possiblility of a heart attack and its only 80mg thats hardly enough to even help out a headache usually you'd take at least 200mg....
1120865
the treatment is inefficient and this is not something you should mess with, medicine for heart disease should be taken regularly
393903
High blood pressure patients who are on asprin therapy only take one a day as a blood thinner. Plus smaller pills enter the bloodstream more quickly than larger pills because they break down in our systems more easily.
805809
Wow how paranoid are you?  You are thinking that your doctors would actually refer you, and perform an open heart surgery without it being indicated?  Do you think it is useful to be so distrustful of your health care providers?  I know doctors move quickly and don't take time to explain things.  Believe me, when you already are working very long days and nights and not keeping up, taking more time with each patient is difficult to do.  Nonetheless, doctors got into the business because they are there to help.  Ask questions if you don't understand.  Do your own research and inform yourself about some of the basic workings of your own physiology.  Its one thing to answer questions but sometimes as a health professional, you need to lay a whole ground work with a patient before your answer would make any sense to them.  This is very time consuming.  So learn about yourself and how your heart works if you don't already know.\nTry this link for reliable information\nhttp://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-disease/HB99999\n\nNow to answer your question about the "silent heart attack."  We do see this with patients frequently.  There are EKG changes that are consistent with certain parts of the cardiac muscle no longer working.  Other tests (e.g. echocardiograms, myograms)  can give similar results.  My personal feeling about this is that this is either chronically occluded small vessel disease or a congenital defect rather than a full blown event like we typically think of with a heart attack.  This makes the most sense in that over time small vessels become more and more blocked, progressively starving the heart muscle of oxygenated blood.  Eventually an area of the heart dies off.  It happens so slowly that there never is pain, shortness of breath, sweating, etc.  When the area of heart muscle dies, there are changes in monitoring devices like EKG's giving rise to the diagnosis of a "silent heart attack."  Whatever the source it means that there is a part of your heart that no longer contracts and pumps blood like it should.  At minimum this predisposes you for congestive heart failure...which has a high incidence of mortality or morbidity.  If I were you, I would listen to the medical people.  Your life and quality of life will depend on it.\n\nGood luck.
298498
i think a normal person goes at least once a day or every other day.  Don't think its much more than that.  If it is, you should probably be seeing a doc.
1128955
What treatments are available?\n\nThe goals of heart attack treatment are to return blood flow to your heart muscle, bring back a regular heartbeat, and give your heart time to recover.\n\nThe development of "clot busters" called thrombolytic agents (streptokinase, urokinase, tissue plasminogen activator) has increased survival rates for heart attack patients when these medicines are given as soon as possible after an attack. The term thrombolysis means to break up a clot, and that is exactly what these medicines do. In some cases, these medicines can break up a clot within minutes. To work best, they must be given as soon as possible after a heart attack.\n\nYou may also receive aspirin and blood-thinning medicines (anticoagulants) to stop clots from forming or growing in size. Also, oxygen may be given to increase the amount of oxygen in the blood still flowing through your heart. Painkillers may be used to reduce the pain. Some patients are also given medicines aimed at slowing their heart rate, opening and relaxing their blood vessels, and reducing the work of the heart. \n\nMost patients respond well to these medicines. Those who do not respond well may need further emergency care, such as balloon angioplasty and stenting, coronary artery bypass surgery, or a related procedure.\n\nRest is important very early after a heart attack. But within a few days, you should be up and moving around, taking short walks, and getting other kinds of limited exercise. Studies have shown that the heart benefits from exercise, even after a heart attack.\n\n\n\nOr\nCandidates for Emergency Angioplasty\nAs with thrombolytic treatments, angioplasty is most effective when performed within 12 hours of symptoms, and the sooner the better. The best candidates are the following:\n\nMost patients who are also good candidates for thrombolytic therapy. \nWomen who meet the criteria for both approaches may be better candidates for angioplasty than thrombolytic therapy. In fact, in a 2002 study, survival rates at one year were better in women who had had angioplasty than in men. (Previous reports showing higher mortality rates may have been due to a worse outcome in smaller people than larger ones with this procedure.) \nElderly patients who meet the criteria for both approaches tend to do better with angioplasty than thrombolytic therapy. \nPatients with diabetes who meet the criteria for both approaches. \nPatients younger than 75 who go into shock (when angioplasty can be performed within 18 hours of shock onset). There is no advantage for patients over 75 who are in shock. \nAlthough revascularization is not effective in most patients with non-ST elevation heart attacks, it might benefit certain subsets of these patients, such as those who show reduced blood flow in the damaged artery and when angioplasty can be performed within 12 hours. \nIt should be strongly noted that the experience of the medical center's staff is critical for optimal benefits, and not all surgeons are experienced in angioplasty. However, the procedure is becoming increasingly available and overall mortality rates are improving over time with angioplasty. Patients or their families should be sure their surgeon has performed at least 75 of these procedures and that the medical center has performed at least 200.
572092
Several approaches are used to treat and prevent abnormal beating:\n\nMedications are used to slow down rapid heart rate associated with AF. These treatments may include drugs such as digoxin, beta blockers (atenolol, metoprolol, propranolol), amiodarone, disopyramide, calcium antagonists (verapamil, diltiazam), sotalol, flecainide, procainamide, quinidine, propafenone, etc. \nElectrical cardioversion may be used to restore normal heart rhythm with an electric shock, when medication doesn't improve symptoms. \nDrugs (such as ibutilide) can sometimes restore the heart's normal rhythm. These drugs are given under medical supervision, and are delivered through an IV tube into a vein, usually in the patient's arm. \nRadiofrequency ablation may be effective in some patients when medications don't work. In this procedure, thin and flexible tubes are introduced through a blood vessel and directed to the heart muscle. Then a burst of radiofrequency energy is delivered to destroy tissue that triggers abnormal electrical signals or to block abnormal electrical pathways. \nSurgery can be used to disrupt electrical pathways that generate AF. \nAtrial pacemakers can be implanted under the skin to regulate the heart rhythm. \nAHA Recommendation for Stroke Prevention\n\nTreating atrial fibrillation is an important way to help prevent stroke. That's why the American Heart Association recommends aggressive treatment of this heart arrhythmia.\n\nDrugs are also used to help reduce stroke risk in people with AF.  Anticoagulant and antiplatelet medications thin the blood and make it less prone to clotting.  Warfarin is the anticoagulant now used for this purpose, and aspirin is the antiplatelet drug most often used. Long-term use of warfarin in patients with AF and other stroke risk factors can reduce stroke by 68 percent.\n\nPhysicians differ on the choice of drugs to prevent embolic stroke — stroke caused by a blood clot. It's clear that warfarin is more effective against this type of stroke than aspirin. However, warfarin has more side effects than aspirin. Examples include potential bleeding problems or ulcer. \nPatients at high risk for stroke should probably be treated with warfarin rather than aspirin unless there are clear reasons not to do so.  \nAspirin is the standard treatment for patients at low risk for stroke and under 75 years of age.
164305
The above answer is correct.  I'll kind of expound a bit.  The oxygen supplement is necessary even if a person having a heart attack is sating in the 90s.  The heart needs the extra oxygen to help keep the injury from expanding.  The pain killer is usually morphine for two reasons.  It helps with pain control and it helps the heart therapuetically to work more efficiently ....a third reason is to help the patient relax their breathing a bit.  Nitro is also given for pain relief by dilating cornary arteries and improving blood flow.  Retavase is the thrombolitic of choice in our hospital.  Most MIs are cause by a blood clot in a heart vessel and thrombolitics act to dissolve a clot quickly, helping to limit serious damage....time is of the essence.  The quicker the clot is dissolved, the less  damage done. Think of the old pacman game...and you have an idea of what is supposed to happen when thrombolitics are used.  Someting I forgot to mention, in the ambulance or the ER aspirn is given if the patient hasn't taken any.\n\nOther meds (depending on BP and arrythmias) may be given.  Often in the next day or two, the patient is taken to cath lab to investigate the problems of clogged heart vessels and then if needed bypass surgery or a stint may be done.
950965
Aspirin (acetyl salicylic acid) is a naturally occuring analgesic.  Buffered aspirin has a coating of alkali to offset the acidity.
155893
C.S.A.,condroitin sulfate A.,a substance produced by the body,decreases in production with increased age. Three grams a day would save 5/6 of the terminally ill heart patients and cause no side effects!!!! Also a lot of natural vitamin E cured some people of angina.
996809
Because unlike vitamin E (which thins the blood, and prevents stroke and heart attack), which would require you go to a health food store AND NOT A PHARMACY, aspirin kills at least 2,000 people a year, and doctors don't like to recommend things that don't have any chance of killing you....they equate harmlessness with ineffectiveness.  And they are threatened by natural alternatives because it takes all the power away from their drug dealing mentalities, and keeps them from driving a Mercedes, or buying implants for their mistresses.
129025
The American Heart Association recommends the consumption of 1g of fish oil daily, preferably by eating fish, for patients with coronary heart disease.[1]\n\nAccording to a study from Louisiana State University in September 2005, fish oil may help protect the brain from cognitive problems associated with Alzheimer's disease\n\n\nThe liver of fish and many animals, such as seals and whales, contains, besides Omega-3, the active form of Vitamin A, such as in cod liver oil
684359
There are pros and cons to taking ANY medicine, including an aspirin. You have to decide if you are miserable enough to use the medication properly and let it work, or worry about the side effects it can cause.  Asthma is serious and needs medical attention. If your doctor has given you this medication, it is because he/she feels it will work to relieve your symptoms. If it isn't working after you use it faithfully and the way it is prescribed, then you need to let your doctor know.