Does an aspirin a day actually keep a heart attack away?  Is it possible to take too much aspirin?  Will I develop any complications if I take aspirin on a daily basis?

These are just some of the questions that patients ask Dr. Smith about aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) therapy.

In its early years, aspirin was viewed solely as an across-the-board pain reliever.  But then it was discovered that it could also thin the blood:  keeping platelets from sticking together and forming heart-attack inducing clots.

Suddenly everyone was jumping on the aspirin bandwagon, taking “preventive” doses whether they needed them or not.  A massive media campaign further fueled this aspirin-popping frenzy.

Then some researchers began to wonder aloud if this was really such a good idea after all.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sounded a cautionary note in 2003, when its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research launched a public education campaign to remind consumers that aspirin is not without risk (FDA Consum 2003;37:36.)

Because the benefits of aspirin therapy are less than conclusive — and the practice has worrisome side effects — Dr. Smith urges patients to reconsider reliance on aspirin and other “elective” drugs in favour of all-natural methods of prevention.