Many people periodically suffer from headaches and fever, which can be caused by colds. To alleviate the suffering of people, acetylsalicylic acid, or just aspirin, is suitable. This drug is successfully sold in every pharmacy in our country. As a rule, it is used without a doctor's prescription for pain relief and lowering body temperature. In this regard, people should be aware of the benefits and possible harms of using aspirin.
The advent of the drug
According to one version, acetylsalicylic acid and its miraculous properties were discovered by the English priest E. Stone in the middle of the 18th century. To bring the patient out of a feverish state, the man used an infusion of willow bark.
Scientists started researching willow bark after half a century. It was then that a pharmacist from France, I. Leroux, isolated an active substance from the bark of a tree, which was later called salicin. A few years later, the chemist K. Lewig obtained an acid from salicin, which was called salicylic acid. Soonscientists have found that this substance is found not only in willow, but also in other plants, such as oranges, olives, plums and others.
What you need to know about the drug
Due to its composition, acetylsalicylic acid belongs to salicylates in its chemical structure. It is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. The drug is able to block the formation of certain substances during the onset of inflammatory processes. Acid is also taken to combat increased blood clots.
If aspirin is taken according to the manufacturer's instructions, it will not cause serious harm to the body, even if an individual intolerance to the drug is detected.
When to take aspirin
Many people wonder: what helps acetylsalicylic acid? The main indication for its use is pain of any origin. The drug even copes with pain in the joints, which are resistant to the effects of many analgesics.
Aspirin is also used to lower body temperature during an infectious disease. It fights fever effectively and quickly.
Some mothers are interested in the question: can children take acetylsalicylic acid? It is strictly forbidden to take this medicine to young children, as it can cause Reye's syndrome. Is it possible to take the remedy for expectant mothers? The use of acetylsalicylic acid during pregnancy is also strictly prohibited.
If you took too much
Sick people should carefully monitor the dosage of acetylsalicylic acid. Severe overdose of this antipyretic can lead to symptoms similar to acute poisoning. You can understand that a patient has an overdose by the following signs:
- Violation of consciousness, depression.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- A sharp drop in blood pressure to a critical level.
- Occurrence of shortness of breath and hypoxia.
- Poor blood clotting, which can subsequently lead to internal bleeding.
Aspirin overdose occurs, as a rule, during a single dose of a large number of doses of the drug. A dosage of acetylsalicylic acid equal to 500 mg per 1 kg of human weight, drunk at a time, can lead to complications and even death. The same dosage of the drug can lead to severe poisoning if you drink it during the day.
Chronic drug poisoning
If you use aspirin for a long time, there is a high probability of developing chronic poisoning. This phenomenon occurs if the patient neglects the advice of a doctor, does not pay attention to the instructions for using the drug, taking aspirin daily as a therapy for an inflammatory disease. You can identify chronic poisoning by the following signs:
- Indigestion, lack of appetite, nausea.
- Hearing impairment that progresses over time. The rate of development of this disease depends on the doses taken.drug.
- Constant noise in the hearing.
During chronic poisoning, the onset and gradual increase of the above symptoms are characteristic.
What is Reye's Syndrome
If you follow the instructions, acetylsalicylic acid tablets will not cause direct harm to children, but there is a risk of a serious complication as a result of prescribing such a medicine. It's called Reye's syndrome. Usually such a disease occurs when an overdose of aspirin against a viral infection in a young child. Signs of the syndrome:
- Severe vomiting.
- The occurrence of neuralgia.
- Depressed state.
- Coma.
- Fall in blood pressure.
- Respiratory problems, shortness of breath, feeling of suffocation.
- Impaired consciousness as a result of brain damage, fainting, convulsions.
- Liver damage.
First aid for complications
When symptoms of a drug overdose are detected, a number of simple measures should be taken immediately to save the life and he alth of the victim, namely:
- Gastric lavage until clear water appears. Thanks to this procedure, most of the acetylsalicylic acid, which did not have time to dissolve and get into the blood, will be excreted from the body. For washing, it is necessary to force a person to drink about 1.5 liters of clean drinking water, and then proceed to provoke vomiting. This can be done by pressing two fingers on the root of the tongue.
- After rinsing in mandatoryorder, the recommended dose of absorbents for acute poisoning should be taken. Such drugs help to remove aspirin from the stomach and intestines, preventing its subsequent absorption into the body.
- After that, you need to contact a medical institution, while explaining what caused the poisoning.
When the patient is transferred to the hands of doctors, he will be provided with specialized care using intravenous infusions.
To prevent an overdose of drugs, you should control their intake, always be guided by the appointment of doctors. Read the instructions carefully before taking any drug. It is also important to keep all medicines out of the reach of children. Preventing severe poisoning is always easier than treating it.
Help thin the blood
Many people wonder: what does acetylsalicylic acid help with besides reducing fever? In people with pathologies of the heart and blood vessels, there are often violations of blood clotting in the body. The blood thickens and becomes viscous, which certainly increases the risk of thrombosis.
In this case, you need to take aspirin, which is simply indispensable for thinning the blood in the human body. This remedy can affect platelets. The drug blocks the receptors on their surface that are responsible for protein synthesis, which is referred to as thromboxane A2. Due to its composition, acetylsalicylic acid, when it enters the body, affects the ability of plateletsstick together, and also attach to the vascular wall.
The blocking of receptors is irreversible, even with a single dose of aspirin, the synthesis of thromboxane A2 is disrupted for several days, until the platelets are renewed.
People with heart disease often wonder: how to take acetylsalicylic acid? Since the bone marrow is constantly launching new blood cells into the vessels that affect clotting, aspirin should be taken every day. It is important to observe the dosage of the drug. If you take the drug in large doses, the desired effect will not be, but side effects appear.
What affects the state of the blood
A he althy person's blood is 90% water. The remaining 10% includes platelets, fats, leukocytes, enzymes, red blood cells, various acids, and so on. Due to age, a sedentary lifestyle, during chronic diseases, the composition of human blood changes significantly. The amount of water in the body decreases, instead of it the bone marrow produces platelets, as a result of which the blood in the vessels thickens.
Platelets are needed to stop bleeding from cuts and wounds, they are responsible for blood clotting. When these substances become too much, blood clots form, which can lead to serious consequences. There is a risk of blockage of blood vessels and heart valves, which inevitably leads to damage to the blood clot.
In the morning, the blood has a particularly thick consistency, namelytherefore, modern research suggests that it is better to refuse sports in the morning.
To understand how to deal with excessive blood clotting, you should know about the causes of this problem:
- The person is not drinking enough.
- Some medications may promote fluid in the vessels.
- Lack of vitamins and other nutrients.
- Heart disease.
- Eating a lot of sweets and foods containing excessive amounts of carbohydrates.
- Failure in the body caused by a hormonal disorder.
As you can see from the list, many factors can lead to unwanted blood clotting, which is why after 40 years it is recommended to donate blood for analysis. This will allow doctors to prescribe prophylactic treatment aimed at blood liquefaction in time.
Why is it necessary to liquefy blood
Periodically thinning the blood in the body is required for everyone who wants to reach old age. If the blood has become too thick, then blood clots will inevitably form in the body. The resulting thrombosis leads to instant death.
If you take action in time and liquefy the blood as needed, you will significantly reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack. Also, after prevention aimed at improving the functioning of the heart, there will always be a good mood and well-being, because blood circulation in the body will improve.
How does aspirin work
The principle of action of acetylsalicylic acid is that, getting inside the body, itprevents the production of prostaglandins, so that platelets in the vessels do not accumulate and do not stick together. As a result, the risk of thrombosis and thromboembolism is significantly reduced.
Indications for daily use of aspirin:
- Thrombophlebitis.
- Atherosclerosis.
- Inflammation of the arteries.
- Heart disease.
- Hypertension.
Persons suffering from hemorrhoids and varicose veins are also at risk.
If, after undergoing a blood test (hemogram), a patient has a tendency to form blood clots, doctors usually prescribe him acetylsalicylic acid.
Aspirin dosage for blood thinning
Many people wonder: how to take acetylsalicylic acid? If you use this medicine correctly, you can significantly reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack. Despite this, tablets should be taken only with the permission of the attending physician. It is this rule that will help maintain he alth, avoid unwanted side effects, including life-threatening internal bleeding.
For blood thinning, a 0.5 gram tablet is divided into 4 parts and washed down in one serving throughout the day. To achieve the desired effect, it is required to use the remedy for a weekly course without interruption. It is also important not to exceed the maximum allowable dosage, which is 125 mg per day.
Since it is not very convenient to divide a tablet crumbling into small parts, modern medicine can offermany analogues of "Acetylsalicylic acid", which are used to improve the condition of the blood. The most popular of them are "Losperin", "TromboAss", and others.
Aspirin recommendations
Acetylsalicylic acid has a negative effect on the functioning of the gastric mucosa, resulting in nausea, abdominal pain, heartburn and indigestion. With prolonged use of the drug, such unpleasant diseases as a stomach ulcer, bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract and the development of gastropathy may occur. To minimize the harm caused by the drug, it is enough to follow simple recommendations:
It is better to buy the drug in an enteric coating.
- Do not exceed the recommended dose.
- During the prophylactic course, you should give up smoking and alcohol.
- Do not take the drug on an empty stomach.
- To prevent stomach irritation, after taking aspirin, you should take magnesium hydroxide, which is sold in pharmacies in the form of tablets.
- It is advisable to give up junk and fatty foods that burden the liver and stomach.
There is an open question among he alth care providers about whether to take additional acid-reducing drugs during daily aspirin use, so this issue should be decided at the appointment with your he althcare professional.
Interesting facts about aspirin
For the first time the name "aspirin" was registered in 1899 in Germany. At firstthe drug was produced only in the form of a powder, and since 1904 a pharmaceutical company began to produce the drug in tablets for the convenience of consumers. The remedy for fever and pain quickly gained popularity among the population of Western Europe, as it proved to be fast, cheap and reliable, alleviating the suffering of patients.
In the first half of the 20th century, doctors believed that aspirin was only a means to relieve pain and fever. In 1953, an American scientist proved that a drug can significantly reduce the risk of diseases of the cardiovascular system. Nowadays, many people with heart disease take aspirin pills.
Scientists are still studying the effect of this antipyretic on the human body. Many experts suggest that taking the drug for a course of several days can protect the body from malignant tumors that cause cancer. Doctors also believe that acetylsalicylic acid can reduce the likelihood of chronic diseases of internal organs in old age, as well as fight depression.
Contraindications for use
Aspirin, like other pharmaceuticals, is not an absolutely safe product and has its own contraindications. It should be remembered that if you correctly approach its use, follow the recommendations of the doctor and the manufacturer, then the benefits of taking this drug will be greater than the harm.
The drug can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, but it can also cause internal bleeding. It is also forbidden to drink acetylsalicylic acid during pregnancy, nursing mothers and young children. To reduce body temperature in case of an infectious disease, doctors (for the treatment of this category of citizens) resort to paracetamol. People with stomach problems are also prohibited from using aspirin.
Interaction with other drugs
Aspirin is a powerful drug, which is why you need to be careful while taking it. It is incompatible with:
- alcohol;
- anticoagulants;
- some sugar-lowering formulations;
- many anticancer and anti-inflammatory drugs;
- diuretics and blood pressure drugs.
There are many analogues of acetylsalicylic acid on the pharmaceutical market, so it is quite easy for an experienced doctor to find compatible drugs.
Face mask
Indications of acetylsalicylic acid are cosmetic problems. For example, many girls use medicated powder or tablets to cleanse their skin.
Acetylsalicylic acid face mask recipe:
- First, crush 2 aspirin and activated charcoal to a powder.
- Then, in the resulting mixture, add half a teaspoon of citric acid topowder form.
- Pour the mixture with a little water until the consistency is not too liquid.
- Next, thoroughly mix the resulting mass.
The product is ready, it remains only to apply a face mask with acetylsalicylic acid for 5-10 minutes, and then wash thoroughly.
Aspirin reviews
Many people want to read reviews about acetylsalicylic acid. Since this drug is a very popular remedy for fever and pain in Russia, many patients speak out about its advantages and disadvantages.
Most people write positive reviews about acetylsalicylic acid. People emphasize that this is a relatively safe product, but at the same time it is very effective and inexpensive. It is sold in every pharmacy and is produced in a convenient form. Analogues of this medicine, as a rule, are many times more expensive. In addition, aspirin is used in traditional medicine, for example, to cleanse the skin of impurities.
