From: "Dr. D. Kossove" <doctordee@telkomsa.net>
Subject: aspirin and clotting
Date: Thursday, December 25, 2003 4:56 PM

   It would be nice to see if aspirin made a difference in deaths from
hypercoagulable states due to cancer or treatment of cancer.  Strokes and
other arterial clotting occur in cancer patients, too....    Aspirin is
prophylaxis for arterial clotting.  Deep vein thrombosis in the leg, a
concomitant to surgery, or to dehydration and stasis, is not affected by
aspirin prophylaxis, but might be prevented by leg exercises, mobilization,
and hydration.

doreen

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/443952_print

Aspirin Has Favorable Risk/Benefit Profile in Secondary Prevention of MI and
Stroke  [article edited]

...Among patients at risk for thromboembolic events such as stroke and
myocardial infarction (MI) because of a previous event, the benefits of
aspirin prophylaxis outweigh the risks, according to the results of a
meta-analysis.
Dr. Steven M. Weisman from Innovative Science Solutions LLC, Morristown, New
Jersey, and Dr. David Y. Graham from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center,
Houston, reviewed data from six trials that included 6300 patients and
compared aspirin to placebo.
Their goal was to compare the benefit of low-dose aspirin versus
gastrointestinal risk in the secondary prevention of thromboembolic events.

Drs. Weisman and Graham found that the use of aspirin reduced overall
mortality by 18% and the number of strokes by 20%. They also found that
myocardial infarctions and other vascular events were reduced by 30%.

However, patients receiving aspirin had a 2.5 times increased risk of
gastrointestinal tract bleeding compared with patients receiving placebo.

According to the report in the October 28th issue of the Archives of
Internal Medicine, for aspirin to prevent one death, 67 patients would need
to be treated, while to detect one nonfatal gastrointestinal tract bleed,
100 patients would need to be treated.

...
Arch Intern Med 2002;162:2197-2202.



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